Cinephiles can soak in a week of screenings of restored classics at the iconic Regal cinema, alongside talks on the role of film preservation across SoBo venues
A moment from the silent film, Behula, at the screening
Walk down Colaba Causeway, and the Art Deco influences on the façades of Regal cinema are impossible to miss. Once the heart of glamorous premieres of films by Dev Anand to Raj Kapoor, it is among the last bastions for lovers of the single-screen cinema experience. This week, its interiors will rewind time as they host forgotten films, now restored, and screened for a new generation.
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“You might never have another chance to watch Raging Bull or In The Mood For Love on the big screen like this,” shares Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, filmmaker and founder, Film Heritage Foundation. The foundation is hosting a week-long workshop, alongside these screenings, on the art of film restoration and preservation. Several of the films being screened at the event are products of restoration efforts.
A moment from the silent film, Behula, at the screening
Among them is the 101-year-old silent film Behula, directed by Camille Legrand in 1921, featuring India’s first female superstar, Patience Cooper. The film, which was screened on Monday, has an interesting connection to the city, Dungarpur reveals. “The producer of the film was Parsi magnate, JF Madan , who moved from Bombay to Calcutta, and made films based on stories from Parsi theatre,” he says. The film was discovered and restored by the Foundation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé in France, and will return to the country for the first time since its screening days in the 1920s.
Each show will be preceded by an introduction that will detail the film’s context, role and the restoration efforts that went into it. The seventh edition of the workshop is being held in the city for the first time since it was launched in 2015. This edition includes courses on photograph and film conservation, and object restoration among others under the supervision of experts from the Academy and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Dungarpur adds that this time, the workshops are scheduled to take place across the art and cultural precinct of South Mumbai with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CMSVS) and KR Cama Institute as the chosen venues.
(From left) Dr Yusuf Hamied, chairman of Cipla, actor Boman Irani and lyricist Gulzar at the opening session. Pics Courtesy/Film Heritage Foundation
But for film lovers, Regal should be the place to be. The cinema will host a series of five films over the week including G Aravindan’s Thamp (1978), Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980), Vittorio Storaro’s Il Conformista (1970), Wong Kar Wai’s In The Mood For Love (2000).
The opportunity is rarer still since the event has a free, first-come-first-serve offer for the screenings. Recalling his own experience of watching classics on the big screen in London and New York, Dungarpur says, “The idea is to create an alternative for people to watch classic films on the big screen. Even if there are 10 people who wish to watch, they should not be denied the joy.”
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
Evidence supports his theory. The foundation recently ran a successful experiment of screening a retrospective of Amitabh Bachchan films to great success, and is replicating it with a similar one on Dilip Kumar’s films as well at select theatres. “There is nothing called an old film. It is how you present and curate the list,” the filmmaker adds.
The hall’s projection was calibrated and upgraded for the purpose, along with a refurbishment of its seats for the event, Dungarpur says. “Regal has an old-style screen with a larger aspect ratio. It is a temple for cinema,” he notes. The opening ceremony last Sunday saw actor Boman Irani and director-lyricist Gulzar among others, attend a screening of The Beatles’ classic, A Hard Day’s Night (1964) at the theatre. The actor, Dungarpur reveals, was sentimental. “Irani recalled how it was at Regal that he would watch films, including A Hard Day’s Night,” he says. For once, the sentimental in this writer would choose to agree. After all, can you ever go wrong with a Wong Kar Wai story to de-stress on a weekday?
Till: December 10; 6.30 pm onwards
At: Screenings: Regal cinema, SBS Marg, Colaba.
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