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

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

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

“I came into Hindi cinema overmuch aboriginal successful life, and I had missed retired connected seeing this connected the large screen. When I was studying overseas successful Chicago, adjacent NRIs successful my assemblage would punctuation dialogues from this movie but I had ne'er gotten a accidental to spot it. So I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity,” helium 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”, the Anurag Kashyap-directed duology attained popularity and captious acclaim pursuing its full-house premier astatine the 2012 Cannes Film Festival successful France.

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

Actress Reema Sen poses during a Gangs of Wasseypur occurrence enactment successful Mumbai [File: Strdel/AFP]

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

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

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

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

Then determination is the rising outgo of making a full-length film. Stars, chiefly men, are present paid an unprecedented fee, immoderate amounting to astir fractional of a film’s budget. Moreover, the disbursal of their entourage – constitution and publicity crew, vanity vans, hotels and question – puts further fiscal strain connected producers and studios. Recently, salient shaper and manager Karan Johar told journalists the prima fees successful Bollywood were “not successful interaction with reality”.

Bollywood histrion Ranbir Kapoor promoting his 2011 movie Rockstar astatine a assemblage successful Mumbai. The movie returned to Indian theatres this twelvemonth [File: Yogen Shah/The India Today Group via Getty Images]

To marque matters worse, Bollywood successful caller years has been witnesser to a drawstring of flops, with adjacent 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 the archetypal clip around, portion others weren’t – until now.

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

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

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

Tum Bin’s actors: Sandali Sinha, right, Priyanshu, centre, and Himanshu [File: JSG/CP]

Indian movie commercialized expert Taran Adarsh agreed, saying the occurrence of Tumbbad, a 113-minute mythological fearfulness initially released successful 2018, was impervious that the look of reruns was working. “It’s besides astir nostalgia, immoderate radical mightiness privation to acquisition the magic of a movie connected the large surface again,” helium said.

Tumbbad did not bash good erstwhile it archetypal came out. But with rising popularity and captious acclaim, the movie was re-released successful September this twelvemonth and went connected to execute importantly amended than the twelvemonth it deed the large screen.

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

First released successful 1995, Karan Arjun, a rebirth-themed enactment play directed by actor-turned-director Rakesh Roshan, is acceptable to deed Indian theatres connected Friday to people its 30th anniversary, with 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 the pioneers of India’s alleged creation cinema question of the 1970s, told Al Jazeera the determination to re-release specified films is taken by the producers. Recently, Benegal himself saw the restoration and re-release of his 1976 classic, Manthan, India’s archetypal crowdfunded movie for which much than 500,000 farmers contributed 2 rupees each to archer the communicative of their question that founded Amul, India’s largest dairy cooperative.

“Because it’s a analyzable and time-consuming process, you lone take to reconstruct those movies that you privation to sphere for long. Fortunately for us, it worked retired well. The restoration was fantabulous and we got a large effect from the audiences,” Benegal said, adding that the mode a movie is made, and not conscionable its themes, contributes to its intergenerational appeal.

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

Acclaimed Indian histrion Naseeruddin Shah, centre, his woman and histrion Ratna Pathak, utmost left, get with others for the screening of the restored mentation of Manthan astatine the 77th Cannes Film Festival, France [File: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images]

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

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

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

Sri, who lone goes by 1 name, is simply a selling nonrecreational successful Chennai, the superior of the confederate Tamil Nadu state. She told Al Jazeera it was the lure of Rajinikanth that archetypal prompted her involvement successful the re-releases astir her.

“The archetypal 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 got astir to watching it connected the 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.

Actors Avinash Tiwari, left, and Tripti Dimri, whose 2018 movie Laila Majnu, based successful Indian-administered Kashmir, had a palmy rerun this twelvemonth [File: Narinder Nanu/AFP]

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

Ajay Unnikrishnan, a writer based successful Bengaluru, the superior of the confederate Karnataka state, said the inclination of re-releasing aged classics besides marks “a signifier of taste resistance”, peculiarly successful airy of the mediocre show of astir Bollywood flicks today.

“We conscionable saw the merchandise of the 3rd sequel of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a Hindi franchise, lone weeks aft the re-release of Mohanlal’s Manichitrathazhu, the archetypal Malayalam movie that Bhool Bhulaiyaa is based on. So I spot this arsenic a signifier of taste absorption due to the fact that Manichitrathazhu is the original. It is truthful different, had much creator value. Bhool Bhulaiyaa appropriated it,” helium 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 radical are taking much announcement present due to the fact that contiguous there’s a dearth of movies with fashionable appeal,” helium said.

Experts and movie commercialized analysts agree.

Ira Bhaskar, erstwhile prof of cinema studies astatine New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the existent improvement is lone a repackaging of what has agelong existed.

“Before the epoch of multiplexes, films were successful information re-screened precise often. If determination was a Hindi movie coming retired of Bombay [now Mumbai], it was rather communal to spot that film, accidental a twelvemonth aboriginal successful a smaller metropolis oregon municipality similar Varanasi,” Bhaskar told Al Jazeera.

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

“But I don’t deliberation there’s immoderate contention due to the fact that cinema is cinema. The feeling of watching a movie connected a large surface is truthful unsocial and simply can’t beryllium matched. There volition ever beryllium radical who privation that,” helium told Al Jazeera.