Kolkata's mixed response to re-releases: Nostalgia's limited appeal
Times of India | 8 November 2024
Kolkata screening of 'Mahanagar' KOLKATA: The City of Joy is often associated with nostalgia for a number of reasons, including its colonial history, iconic landmarks, and cultural heritage. However, there is one sector where the love for nostalgia has not worked. In recent months, the city has seen a spate of simultaneous re-releases of cult classics to contemporary cinema in both Hindi and Bengali. Films like ‘Akash Ongshoto Meghla’ (2022), ‘Tumbbad’ (2018), ‘Laila Majnu’ (2018), ‘Chander Pahar’ (2013), ‘Veer Zara’ (2002), ‘Tum Bin’ (2001), and ‘Mahanagar’ (1963) were all re-released. Barring a few, the footfall was not impressive.
Traditionally, weeks before the Pujas have not been great for Bengal’s box office. Most hold back their new releases for the Pujas. This year is the first when the lull before the Pujas saw re-releases of old films. The most-talked-about re-release was Satyajit Ray’s ‘Mahanagar’ starring Madhabi Mukhopadhyay and Anil Chatterjee. Mukherjee herself went down to a multiplex to watch the restored version of the film. “It is a film about women's emancipation where a woman protests the injustice of a colleague at her workplace. Re-releasing it at a time when the city was seeing a surge in protest for a crime against a woman was timely,” said producer Varsha Bansal.
According to Bansal’s statistics, Mumbai and Delhi audiences have shown more interest than Kolkata in this re-release, where the film received a standing ovation from fully-packed cinemas on the weekend. “Mumbai certainly has a large number of cinephiles. So, the interest is understandable. In Kolkata, except for two or three cinemas, the others surprisingly did not do good numbers. I expected many Bengalis to revisit the film, but I guess they didn’t,” Bansal added.
Debjiban Basu of Basusree is disappointed with the audience response to ‘Chander Pahar’ at his single screen. “Pre-Pujas are a lean period for exhibitors since people are busy shopping. This year, we decided to go for re-releases in the absence of content. But ‘Chander Pahar’ didn’t live up to the expectations because of a lack of publicity. However, the Hindi film, ‘Tumbbad’, did better than what other films did during the Pre-Puja season.”
Over the months, some Hindi films have done well during their re-release. The first time Kolkata got a good response to a Hindi re-release was for ‘Jab We Met’. ‘Rockstar’ too had a good footfall. According to a multiplex official, “Pre-Pujas, we got a good response from ‘Tumbbad’ and ‘Veer Zara’. ‘Tumbbad’ mainly had viewers on OTT after it was released. The same people came to the theatres since they were convinced that the big screen viewing would give them value for money. ‘Veer Zara’ had takers purely for nostalgia value. One multiplex had a Kareena Kapoor festival with old releases like ‘Asoka’ (2001), ‘Omkara’ (2006), and ‘Heroine’ (2012). But the response was average.”
Movie-goer Ayesha Chowdhury said, “Kolkata is certainly not tired of nostalgia. A screening of ‘Mahanagar’ was held at Nandan. It had people sitting in the front row too. The timing of the Kolkata release of ‘Mahanagar’ coincided with the RG Kar protests. Mumbai and Delhi did not have such protests. So, the viewership was good in those cities.”