Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; September 23, 2023)

When veteran actress Waheeda Rehman heard that four classics of Dev Anand, including Guide which also featured her, were being re-released, she wondered if moviegoers would be interested in watching 60–70-year-old films in cinemas. She was surprised to know that the shows of these films C.I.D. (1956), Guide (1965), Jewel Thief (1967) and Johny Mera Naam (1970), which will happen over this weekend as part of Dev Anand’s birth centenary celebrations, had been sold out.

"Restored and remastered films provide a higher-quality viewing experience. Post the pandemic younger audiences are going out for movies while the older audience has stayed away. Re-release of classic titles has enabled us to bring back this audience to cinemas."
- Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR INOX Limited
---------------------------------------------------------
“These special screenings offer a chance to relive iconic moments and share the magic of timeless films with a new generation of cinema enthusiasts. The response to re-releases has been overwhelming."
- Devang Sampat, CEO Cinepolis India
---------------------------------------------------------
"When I recently met Waheeda ji to invite her to the Dev Anand film festival, she was shocked to discover that there is a huge craze among people for these classics. She couldn't believe that the shows of these re-releases were mostly sold-out."
- Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, film archivist and director of Film Heritage Foundation

SOME MAJOR RE-RELEASES IN THE RECENT PAST
- Khalnayak, on completion of 30 years of the film
- Koi Mil Gaya, to celebrate its 20th anniversary
- RRR, before the Academy Awards ceremony
- Avatar, before the release of Avatar 2  Gadar, before the release of Gadar 2
- Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, to celebrate Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday

‘Re-releases offer youngsters a chance to discover classics’
A part from the Dev Anand films, Kamal Haasan’s 1987 film Pushpak is set to be re-released in theatres soon. Exhibitors say that in the last year, several films have been re-released to celebrate actors’ birth anniversaries, film anniversaries, and even to hype some upcoming sequels. Industry insiders say that the reason why there’s such a huge demand for these films is because “re-releases give young moviegoers a chance to discover classics on the big screen and evoke nostalgia in the older generation”.

SPECIAL FESTS TO SCREEN OLDER FILMS VALENTINE’S WEEK FILM FESTIVAL
Movies like Titanic (English), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Hindi), Ticket to Paradise (English), Ved (Marathi), Geetha Govindam (Telugu), Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (Tamil), Hridayam (Malayalam), Googly (Kannada), Love Ni Bhavai (Gujarati) were re-released as part of the festival in multiple cities

DILIP KUMAR HERO OF HEROES
To mark Dilip Kumar’s birth centenary, Aan (1952), Devdas (1955), Ram Aur Shyam (1967) and Shakti (1982) were released in 31 cinemas in 21 cities

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN FESTIVAL
Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight and Dunkirk were re-released ahead of Oppenheimer’s release date

SUPERSTAR RAJINIKANTH BIRTHDAY SPECIAL
It was held in Chennai and Coimbatore last year with shows of Baba (2002), Sivaji: The Boss (2007), 2.0 (2018) and Darbar (2020)

BACHCHAN BACK TO THE BEGINNING
To celebrate Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday, a film festival was organized in 17 cities where Kaala Patthar, Kaalia, Kabhi Kabhie, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan, Don and Deewaar were screened