The Changing Cinemascape: An Amitabh Bachchan Film Then & Now

By Radhika Bhirani

rbhirani@gmail.com

"Chhan chhan awaaz aati thhi.... Bhar bhar ke chawani athani phainkte thhe."

Nostalgia engulfs as SMM Ausaja rewinds to the 70s and 80s, and relives the scene that used to be -- the release of an Amitabh Bachchan film in a theatre.

The advance ticket windows used to open a week prior to a film's release. The upcoming film's hoarding used to replace that of the ongoing film. The queues used to be for advance booking.

"Bachchan's films used to generate so much of advance bookings that in the first week, the regular, current window didn't used to open only. That was the kind of draw his films got," recounts Ausaja, a film historian, author and archivist of vintage film memorabilia, and who is working on a special book on Big B.

His memories are vivid.

"Bachchan's films used to go houseful, a gende ke phool ki maala (garland of marigold flowers) used to adorn a 'houseful' board outside ticket windows. Sometimes, the actor's cutouts, as huge as 8 feet, were also placed outside theatres, and even they used to be under the weight of garlands," he shares, recalling one specific cut-out of Bachchan from Yaarana (1981), holding a a sten gun.

People, he remembers, used to shower currency when the actor's famous songs played on the screen.

"Whether it was Khaike paan Banaraswala (Don, 1978) or Jumma chumma de de (Hum, 1991)... I've seen it with Jumma chumma in Lucknow. Log chawani athani jeb mein bhar ke laate the and phainkte the. Maine bhi phainke hai, ek baar," he laughs, reminiscing a phase long gone.

A hoarding of Big B's Suhaag at Kanpur's Vivek Talkies, 1979.
Source: SMM Ausaja archive 

Lucknow and what I'd safely call 'Lucknowiyat', interestingly happen to play evocative parts in themselves in Bachchan's latest film Gulabo Sitabo, a slow and melancholic telling of a satirical tale, which has a dilapidated haveli, idiosyncratic characters, folksy music, local lingo and some gripping shots encapsulating minute details, at its heart.

Big B has his UP swag in top-notch form as a crabby landlord, with Bollywood's new-age heartland hero Ayushmann Khurrana playing his part as an always-at-odds tenant with a lisp to the T, in this Juhi Chaturvedi-written, Shoojit Sircar directorial. The film had a world premiere, with subtitles in 14 languages, through Amazon Prime Video.

What's missing?

A theatrical release. The big screens. The ticket windows. The queues. The hysteria. The hustle bustle. The neighbour munching on samosas, or popcorn or nachos. The sound of the last sip of cola. The annoying crying child. The sight of couples indulging in hanky-panky. The rousing laughter. The claps. The whistles. The hushed 'siskiyaan'... The box office buzz. The trade predictions. The trade results...

If the Covid-19 pandemic hadn't interrupted everyday life as severely as it has, Gulabo Sitabo would have released as usual. In a theatre; at the back of a robust marketing campaign, with big hoardings, a social media overdrive, press conferences, so on and so forth. But the 'new normal' has led it to be served to the audiences, directly, in their drawing rooms.

Rapid influx of the digital format began transforming the media and entertainment landscape in India years ago, but this unprecedented pandemic has steered the film industry into fifth gear as far as embracing, in present-day trade parlance, a 'Direct-to-OTT' release concept.

Bachchan, whose weekly huddling of fans has been a M-I-A phenomena, thankfully, in the current scenario, himself had a taste of a 'home premiere' of #GiboSibo, as he calls it, with his entire family.

"There is the immense joy of sitting down together with the entire family and watching a film .. an experience that has happened for the first time. The release film at home and in the presence of the family. Blessed to be in such (sic)," Big B articulates in a blog post, adding, "More of such is believed to be in the following."

He's right. As many as 10 or more Bollywood titles, one hears, are in the fray to head to streaming platforms. These include Vidya Balan and Sanya Malhotra-starrer Shakuntala Devi, and Jahnvi Kapoor's Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl which is backed by Karan Johar.'

Big banners. Popular actors. Not so popular, but talented actors. Some Bollywoodish. Some non-Bollywoodish.

"The experience and the verdict and results and reactions are in a state of uniqueness," states Bachchan, and elucidates how "there is no technology yet to discover the eyeballs or the footfalls, in their numbers, or in the possible results".

It's an aspect filmmaker Hansal Mehta has also touched upon, rather poignantly.

"No tweets about the film's opening. No tweets about its weekend. No tweets about the 'Monday test'. Just love for the film (sometimes through being critical). The way it should be. The business of cinema is best left to the investors. Cinema is best left to its viewers," Mehta wrote in a post, reflective of the qualitative, rather than the usual quantitative (box office-based) quick reviews that the film generated from the trade world.

What then is the measure of a film's success on a streaming platform? Ideally, the number of people who watch the film, yes. But the figures, unlike the theatrical footfalls which float widely and freely, are not readily put out.

"This could be best answered by OTT platforms," a popular trade expert tells me, while sources at streaming platforms indicate that data related to viewership of a film is used for internal purposes alone or is at max, silently shared with producers/investors, instead of being used as a marketing tool.

That leaves the audience with the good ol' word-of-mouth, then!

Let's talk of the experience.

In Ausaja's view, the 'experience' of consuming cinema changed a whole lot from the 1990s, when rampant piracy impacted the industry.

"The hysteria started diminishing once video piracy started becoming regular. Films were not doing well because people were watching them in their homes on video cassettes, sometimes five films at a time, one after the other, for barely Rs 100-150," he recounts. And the widening of avenues -- TV, Internet, gaming, audio innovations, et al -- spearheaded a further fragmentation of interest.

Having said that, he believes, like many would even concur, this experience of watching a new film from wherever, cannot match the experience of catching up on a movie in the dark environs, with cutting-edge sound, and as a community exercise with people around.

"When you're watching a film with hundreds of people, the feeling and energy is different. A film on an OTT is something you can watch it at your leisure. You can pause and go to the bathroom and come back," adds Ausaja.

I wonder if that's a positive, or not? Being able to take a break from a series I was watching, to catch up on Gulabo Sitabo, and then return to my series. The choice of convenience. Of tuning in and tuning out when I want. Of finding the right mood to watch something. Of cooking Maggi in between. Or popcorn, which costs Rs 10 or 20 a bag instead of Rs 250 at a multiplex.

From a common man's perspective, an annual subscription to some streaming platforms turns out cheaper than the expense of travel, popcorn and ticket for watching one film at a theatre. Besides, as Big B pointed out, I repeat, "There is the immense joy of sitting down together with the entire family and watching a film".

If there's one good thing the lockdown has done, it is to give families that rare "we time".

Since media and entertainment emerged as the white knights in the chessboard of life in the pandemic, they have unified people at home -- three generations in a joint family catching up on a new, or an old film; the in-laws congregating with the beta-bahu in the room for some laughs over an entertainer; the younger lot introducing the old parents to 'series'; and more. That has also marked a sort of transition for the streaming platforms themselves -- of shifting from a medium of private viewing to family viewing -- in many ways.

Even though, in effect, the experience of watching a film in a theatre may remain unmatched, what's being transformed in the interim, are the habits in terms of consuming content. Of bringing back the pure love for cinema, wherever it may be consumed, sans the background noise of how much money the movie has or is projected to make.

Aparna Acharekar - Programming Head - ZEE5, aptly sums up.

"There was a time when everything was limited to a single screen theatre and we were all happy going there with our family. But then the movie watching became about an experience -- going to the mall, shopping, eating out and almost a day-long activity with either family or friends.

"And now that things have changed. It won't be an exaggeration to call it an overnight change... there are more people at home, with access to the Internet, with time on their hand, more time to do things together rather than have an individualistic approach. And what is better than watching a film together? That's something that always bonds a family together."

So, what's the next one you're watching? Booked your seat, sofa, couch, bedside or bean bag at home yet?