{"id":6610,"date":"2022-10-06T02:43:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T21:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=6610"},"modified":"2023-09-12T22:27:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T16:57:53","slug":"bachchan-back-to-the-beginning-mega-18-city-retrospective-exhibition-to-celebrate-the-icons-80th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/bachchan-back-to-the-beginning-mega-18-city-retrospective-exhibition-to-celebrate-the-icons-80th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Bachchan Back to the Beginning \u2014 Mega 18-City Retrospective & Exhibition to Celebrate the Icon’s 80th Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bachchan

(Left) The initial Bachchan Back to the Beginning poster. Three more screens have been added now \u2014 one in Chandigarh and two in Pune, making it 18 cities, 25 screens.
(Right) The poster for exhibition at PVR, Juhu<\/p><\/div>\n

Amitabh Bachchan, the icon, the phenomenon, the colossus, is coming back to the big screen with those very films which had spearheaded gamechanger trends in cinema in the 70s. For those born in the 70s and 80s, it will be a d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu to watch those films again in the theatres that had left us awestruck in our childhood. For the new generation, it will be an opportunity to get a feel of the phenomenon and the impact the films had created when originally screened.<\/p>\n

To celebrate his 80th<\/sup> birthday, Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) in association with PVR Cinemas will\u00a0screen 11 Amitabh Bachchan films from 8th<\/sup> to 11th<\/sup> October in 18 cities as part of a mega multi-city retrospective \u2014 ‘Bachchan Back to the Beginning’. Alongside, an exhibition of rare Bachchan memorabilia will be on display at PVR Juhu, Mumbai, curated by film historian and archivist SMM Ausaja, who is also a senior VP with Vistas Media Capital’s Fantico, an NFT platform that sold the iconic Shahenshah <\/em>jacket a few months back.<\/p>\n

A retrospective on such a massive scale is a first of its kind. Silhouette Magazine<\/em> caught up with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, filmmaker, producer, film archivist and restorer and founder of FHF and SMM Ausaja to ask them about how the idea took shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d been always thinking that how do we bring back these films back on screen and that also in proper sort of way, using the original camera negatives,\u201d Shivendra said. \u201cAnd also I wanted to make sure that people talk about preservation in a major way, you know, so that popular cinema has its own level of preservation. Interestingly Finland Archive had written to me saying that then they would like to see screen Mr. Bachchan’s early films. And that really struck me if Finland can think of celebrating his 80th<\/sup> birthday by showing these films, and they were so well informed, they asked for Abhimaan, Mili, Deewar<\/em> \u2013 early films, then I said, what are we doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I had this idea if I could do a 10-12 films retrospective. I went to PVR and spoke to Ajay Bijli. I said I would like to do this retrospective but not in one city.\u201d<\/p>\n

The objective was to not limit the retrospective to a select audience but take it to a mass scale and make it accessible to movie buffs all across the country. Explains Shivendra, \u201cThis particular retrospective is an exercise which comes from the fact that in a city like Mumbai, which is the hub for cinema, there is not a single institution where you can do a retrospective! Hmm, where can you do? If I do it at NCPA, or if I do it at Films Division, there’s only a selected kind of audience coming in and the same audience watching it but there is no cultural space of cinema. And that is what the FHF is trying to achieve. This is what struck me, if I bring back Bachchan Sahab retrospective, I would like to do it from Kanpur to Lucknow to Hyderabad to Bangalore to Kolkata. So 18 cities across India at the same time!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bachchan

FHF team checking the film prints on the large screen while getting ready for the retrospective (Pic: FHF on Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a mammoth task to put the festival together, talking to all the producers, convincing them about how important these films were. \u201cIt wasn’t easy to bring these films back,\u201d says Shivendra. \u201cBut I’m so so happy because Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was my hero. I remember my days in school, in boarding school, in Dehradun Doon School. Chandrachud Singh, the actor, and I were classmates, and we used to get thrown out of our classes for discussing Bachchan films. So many evenings we ran out of school to watch Bachchan\u2019s films. I was in St. Stephen’s History Honours and I remember my love for Bachchan. Today, I’m so proud that I’m able to bring back those childhood films \u2013 Don, Deewar, Kala Patthar<\/em>, back to the public. And you know, since we announced it, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing! People are saying you are showing Mili, Abhimaan, Chupke Chupke<\/em> on screen?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amitabh<\/a>

Amitabh Bachchan in Kala Patthar<\/em> (Pic: SMM Ausaja)<\/p><\/div>\n

The title of the retrospective ‘Bachchan Back to the Beginning’ was the idea of Teesha Cherian, director of the FHF and wife of Shivendra. Teesha had earlier given titles to Shivendra\u2019s films CzechMate: In Search of Ji\u0159\u00ed Menzel<\/em> and Celluloid Man<\/em>. The title aptly captures the essence of the retrospective which will screen 11 films of Bachchan released in the early part of his career including Kaala Patthar, Kaalia, Kabhi Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan, Don, Satte Pe Satta, Mili, Chupke Chupke<\/em> and Deewar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, and what can be more beautiful than Abhishek Bachchan telling me that in his whole life he has seen only one out of these films on the big screen! Everybody is wanting to watch these films,\u201d says Shivendra.<\/p>\n

Amitabh Bachchan along with his family is expected to open the retrospective and exhibition on October 8th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Emphasises Shivendra, \u201cIt was imperative that we must get SMM Ausaja. Everybody knows Ausaja is passionate and committed. It is a wrong notion to call him someone who has Bachchan memorabilia. He has all that, we know. I will call him a Bachchan scholar. And more importantly, his passion and love for Bachchan Sahab. Whether it is him or whether it is me, we are doing it because of our commitment to heritage, commitment to the cause and our love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SMM

SMM Ausaja and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur at \u2018The Golden Thread of Bengali Cinema\u2019 exhibition in Kolkata in 2019 (Pic: Silhouette<\/em> Archives)<\/p><\/div>\n

SMM Ausaja had curated exhibitions earlier on Amitabh Bachchan, to commemorate his 70th<\/sup> birthday (which he had organised for Jaya Bachchan) and his 75th<\/sup> birthday. It took Ausaja almost a month to carefully curate the exhibition, ensuring that it would not have any of the displays that he had exhibited earlier. \u201cThe exhibition is focused on Amitabh Bachchan\u2019s rise to stardom and hence it centers around 1970s and 80s,\u201d says Ausaja. \u201cI have avoided the post-90s because there is easy access to information on that phase of his life. Everything is there on the internet. It is the 70s and 80s phase which is most interesting for today\u2019s generation, to discover and appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n

As is the speciality of Ausaja\u2019s exhibitions, Bachchan: Back to the Beginning will also have some rarest of rare displays. \u201cOne of the frames is the announcement that such an actor has arrived in the industry and has been signed by a few directors. This is perhaps the first image of his that came out in the press,\u201d says Ausaja. \u201cThis is pure research and it is extremely difficult to get such rare items. This newspaper scan records how the press announced the arrival of the actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Shahenshah

The original Shahenshah jacket with the iron hand (Pic: VMC\/Fantico)<\/p><\/div>\n

The original Shahenshah<\/em> jacket with the iron arm, sourced from Fantico, will be going on display. The mix of memorabilia will include rare LP record jackets, lobby cards and working stills, none of which can be found on the internet. \u201cThere is a frame of silhouettes of the 7 Indians in Saat Hindustani<\/em>. You have to figure out where is Amitabh among those 7 silhouettes. Normally you can see the actors in the posters but this one with silhouettes is very interesting,\u201d adds Ausaja.<\/p>\n

\"7-feet<\/a>

7-feet cut out artwork of the knotted shirt Bachchan from Deewar<\/em> by famous artist Shrikant Dhongade (Pic: SMM Ausaja)<\/p><\/div>\n

The show stopper is a massive 7-feet cut out artwork of the knotted shirt Bachchan from Deewar<\/em> by famous artist Shrikant Dhongade, which is bound to tower over the selfie seekers! A 3D artwork on Bachchan\u2019s films by award winning artist Shailesh Acharekar and artwork on Deewar<\/em> by Mithul Biswas are among the other exhibits.<\/p>\n

But given the fact that all these films are easily accessible on OTT and YouTube, will the new generation, the school and college goers and the youth psyched into films of today, find this interesting? The doubts were put to rest as the news about the festival went viral on social media. With everyone from celebrities to the lay movie buff sharing the posts on Twitter, Facebook and Insta, the organizers had to add 3 more screens taking the total to 25 from the initial 22. With the shows going houseful days in advance, \u00a0the fever is rising by the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee the response on the social media!\u201d says Shivendra. \u201cI don’t think a thing like this ever happened on such a large scale \u2013 in 18 cities, 25 screens! This is the largest festival ever to happen. It can\u2019t get bigger than this. I’m very proud of the FHF. We have just plunged ourselves day and night into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a special incentive to his fans who want to enjoy all the movies, PVR has made available a Movie Pass that can be purchased online through the PVR App and Web. The pass can be redeemed across all days in any of the cinemas where the movies are running.<\/p>\n

Ajay Bijli, Chairman & Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said in a statement, \u201cPVR is delighted to partner with Film Heritage Foundation for \u2018Bachchan Back to the Beginning\u2019 to mark the 80th birthday of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. We are so happy that for the first time ever we are able to stage a festival of this kind of Mr. Bachchan\u2019s films across the country to celebrate his work at the scale that is befitting the biggest icon of Indian cinema. The 4-day festival presents an incredible opportunity for fans across India, in big cities and small towns, to watch Mr. Bachchan in his most memorable roles, not on phones or laptops, but larger than life on the big screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While PVR made it possible to screen these films in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Surat, Baroda, Prayagraj, Kolhapur, Indore among others, ideally, Shivendra would have loved to do a bigger exhibition. \u201cI’m only feeling bad that we couldn’t do a large-scale exhibition with Ausaja because we just didn’t have the money. Ideally, along with these screenings, there should have been a big exhibition of his life and works and we should celebrate his work in cinema for a far longer period. But I want to thank Siddharth Roy Kapoor. He came on board to give me money to do the exhibition. Apart from that, no sponsors,\u201d says Shivendra.<\/p>\n

Well, this is just the beginning! \u201cIf this succeeds, I’m planning to do a Dilip Kumar retrospective on December 11, when he turns 100,\u201d adds Shivendra. But for now, the angry young man of Mili, Kala Patthar, Kaalia<\/em>; the smouldering anti-hero of Deewar<\/em> and Don<\/em>; the sensitive, egoistic singer of Abhimaan<\/em>; the bespectacled, hassled professor of Chupke Chupke;\u00a0<\/em>the sombre poet of Kabhi Kabhie;<\/em>\u00a0the lovable big bro of Satte Pe Satta;<\/em> the spunky aide of Namak Halal<\/em> and the goofy Antony Bhai of Amar Akbar Anthony<\/em> is all set to spin his magic again. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n

3D artwork on Bachchan\u2019s films by artist Sailesh Achrekar <\/strong><\/p>\n