In the age of film festivals, the sudden death of single screens

The cinegoers all over India are in for a gala treat as the film festival season is set in full swing. First it was MAMI (Mumbai International Film Festival, organised by Mumbai Academy of the Mumbai Image), followed by the recently-concluded (KIFF) and now the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) came shortly knocking at the threshold of Goa.

With the change of guard at state administration level in West Bengal, there has been a noticeable “paribartan” in hosting its cultural programmes too. The annual government calendar sees a bouquet of important activities to be staged with global audiences as its target-group to be catered to.

However, over the last four winters since the historic handover from Left-regime to a populist “maa mati maanush” brigade under an electoral mandate in 2011, every festive affair took a more vibrant, mass-oriented turn from the erstwhile niche, elitist look that it wore. Of course, this was one of didi’s — ruling chief minister and Trinamul Congress party supremo Mamata Banerjee — foremost agendas to drop the sterner, secluded garb and open the movie spectacle to all and sundry.

But when so much is going on to shoot TRPs and climb up the chart of fame, one wonders then what went wrong with single-screen theatres that are deplorably languishing in dilapidated conditions in negligence and want of care. Several have been razed to the ground to give way to malls, multiplexes, market complexes and high-rises. In the spree of thus lending a progressive facelift to centuries-old cities, often their old world charm and quintessential flavours get lost in process.

In its 29th year, the landmark festival titled International Forum of New Cinema under the broad framework of KIFF has yet gain kicked up the above issue that’s been plaguing the City of Joy for a while now. Unlike its parent banner, it still manages to cling onto the nostalgia and retain its old school of thought, by towing in veterans of art-house, realistic cinema.

From adherents of yesteryear Marxist ideology to present-day supporters of “grassroots” politics, all have graced the occasion to light the lamp and unfurl the festival. This time, the gong was sounded by legendary Bengali film actress Madhabi Mukherjee. Keeping it a low-key, lack-lustre affair as usual, this time, the venue was but shifted to Elite cinema hall from the reputed Metro theatre.

When probed, the festival authorities re-iterated the shut-down crisis of single-screen theatre-houses and cited fund-crunch problems to reinstate this carnival of new cinema to its former glory. Similar danger may be lurking upon the other famous halls of erstwhile Calcutta which would invariably showcase classic cinema. e.g. Basusree, Lighthouse, New Empire, Globe, Chaplin, et al. But before they tumble down to a collapsing fate, hope a miracle happens to save the impending disaster.

The renowned heritage premises of Star Theatre in Kolkata (originally built during the British Raj in 1883) situated in its northern Hati Bagan fringes was finally restored to its pristine image by the local municipal corporation from an inevitable doom after a part of it was destroyed in fire.

A horde of eminent personalities like Vidyasagar, Ramakrishna Parama-hamsa and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had visited this site to watch innumerable stage shows as that was the only source of entertainment in performing arts, those days. Albeit the historical building was rescued from a permanent damage, yet fingers were pointed at its commercialisation for screening more films to earn revenue from ticket-sales at the counter windows than staging theatrical productions on its August natya- mancha.

Cine Central President Shyamal Kumar Sen fondly recalled the dirt-cheap ticket prices of the past in comparison to today’s exorbitant rates. “Considering the market that existed say, roughly five-six decades ago, a movie ticket costing even as low as 6.5-10 annas would mean a lot to us. It would be quite a pocket-pinch when as students we used to throng at cinema halls to enjoy movie-viewing. I still remember coming to this place to catch a film in my younger days,” he goes on a flashback mode standing at the podium inside Elite’s vast auditorium.

The old-styled architecture, large side-walled spinning fans, plastic seats, a massive hanging balcony, moth-bitten carpeted floors and a giant screen in front conspicuously reverberate the same ambience in practically all old halls across the country. While some have heaved a sigh of relief into the nourishing hands of private ownership, others lie gasping for maintenance and makeover, long overdue.

Incidentally, 2015 is Cine Central Calcutta’s stepping stone towards celebrating the golden jubilee year as a film society after its inception in 1965 by a bunch of leading cinema-literate luminaries. Occupying a seat of pride in the hearts of cineastes and film practitioners, the body has consistently made efforts to inject a healthy film culture within discreet moviegoers who have consciously lived and breathed cinema for the love of the medium. “We have to constantly fight all odds by combining tradition with modernity to sustain the rich legacy of this biggest cine club,” comments Sen.

Offering a much-needed platform to showcase talents of fresh, emerging filmmakers alongside a coterie of established names, the current edition of IFNC granted the cinebuffs with an opportunity to check out and experience new waves and trends in the multifarious sphere of world cinema.

A total of 40 entries were received from across 17 nations to encapsulate the festival schedule which was entirely divided into different segments. The inaugural film was Quiet Bliss, a moving and thought-provoking Italian venture helmed by director Edoardo Winspeare. A comprehensive package of European, Scandinavian, middle-eastern, Belarusian, Bangladeshi and Latin American films summed up the schedule for this year’s fiesta.

Doyen actress Madhabi Mukherjee rewound her memory to reminisce about the maiden international film festival held in Mumbai back in 1952 under the premiership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.