Total Recall

The popularity of these screenings also prompted Ramchand Talreja of Tirupati Enterprises to re-release Shakti Samanta’s An Evening in Paris at Alankar theatre in Mumbai. “An Evening In Paris was shot abroad and was the first Indian film to showcase the world-famous Niagara falls,” says Talreja,adding,“present day Hindi films do not do well and don’t have much shelf-life. In comparison,living legends like Shammi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar are still popular and command huge audience wherever they go.” Depending on the film’s reception in Mumbai,it will be released in other cities.

For audiences too,this is a reason to celebrate the glorious years of Indian cinema. “Most filmmakers these days claim to be making movies for the younger generation. But these yesteryear classics cut across generations and seem novel even today,” says Maya Shetty,a collector of classics.

The comeback of classics is not limited to re-releasing a film alone. After Mughal-e-Azam and Naya Daur were re-coloured and re-released in theatres across India,octogenarian Anand also decided to colour his 1961 blockbuster Hum Dono. “This film was the last black-and-white film of my production house Navketan Films and it was for the first time I played a double role in the film. It had two lovely actresses — Sadhna and Nanda. It has been special for me in every aspect,” says Anand,who is set to release the film on January 28 all over the world.

While colouring and re-releasing a film is more of an emotional decision taken by filmmakers or their relatives,it’s financial viability is still under scanner. C. Jaganmohan,owner of Trikona Technologies who has coloured Hum Dono feels it is a wise decision. He cites the example of Telugu classic Maya Bazaar,which,upon being coloured and re-released,ran for 100 days. “If a movie with eight popular actors working together releases,then who wouldn’t want to watch it? Similarly with Hum Dono,film lovers will want to watch Dev Anand in his heyday,” smiles Jaganmohan. There’s just one hindrance. “It takes around four to five months to colour a film and longer when there are too many characters involved,for instance — a war film or a period drama,” he says.

Post Hum Dono,Navketan also plans to re-colour the patriotic film Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat which was very popular in its time. “Some stories never lose their charm. It is not like we can re-colour all films,but some stories simply deserve to be,” says Anand. Besides the performances in Hum Dono,the song Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya by Mohammed Rafi is popular even today. “It sums up our lives,” says Anand.

Besides re-releases,restorations of Bollywood classics is something that has been keenly worked upon. “Restoration of a timeless movie is very tricky and complex,as people remember the original movie,frame-by-frame and dialogue-by-dialogue,” says Subhash Chheda,who has restored the film Garm Hava. Both audio and video are subject to restoration and post-restoration. The Garm Hava project stayed under the scanners of the best creative and technical experts around the world for about a year. “For such a classic film,an audience always exists. So the effort is worth it.”