Cinemas bring back restored classics but box office draw remains elusive

This August, as part of Guru Dutt’s centenary celebrations, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group presented a theatrical retrospective of his films, including Pyaasa, Aar Paar, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Mr. & Mrs. 55, and Baaz, restored and reintroduced for today’s audiences across 250 cinemas. Earlier in the year, Sharmila Tagore’s Aradhana and Satyajit Ray’s Nayak were re-released. According to film trade experts, given the limited audience base for these films, box office earnings remained limited to ₹4-5 lakh.

Restored versions of Indian film classics have seen varied audience reactions—while a few have done reasonably well in theatres, many haven’t earned enough to justify the restoration expense. The financial viability of these releases hinges on how much was spent on production and restoration. Still, these films often evoke nostalgia and offer younger viewers a chance to engage with cinematic heritage. “This emotional connection can contribute to a film’s success, even if the box office collection doesn’t entirely justify the investment,” Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, said. Restoration costs can range from ₹40-50 lakh to a crore, depending on the length of the film and the quality of prints and sound.

Painstaking process

Restoring old Indian classics involves a meticulous process that requires significant investments of time, money, and expertise, according to industry experts like Agrawal. The cost can vary greatly, depending on the film’s condition, length, and complexity. Processes involve creating a high-resolution digital scan of the original film, often in 4K or 8K resolution, followed by removing dirt, scratches and other imperfections from the film using specialized software or manual techniques.

The next step is to adjust colour balance, saturation, and contrast to match the original intended look. This is followed by removing audio imperfections, enhancing sound quality, and ensuring synchronization with visuals. Finally, restored visual and audio elements are combined into a complete film.

Film restoration also requires advanced equipment, such as film scanners and digital restoration software. It needs to be supplemented by skilled professionals with knowledge of film preservation, restoration, and digital technology. It is prudent to obtain necessary permissions and clearances from copyright holders of such content for restoring these classics.

“There isn’t a huge market for restored classics. The category remains niche, especially given the fact that not all re-releases have been gigantic money-spinners in the first place. This is also because the novelty of the whole initiative has worn off,” Rahul Puri, managing director, Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas, said.

Theatre or home?

The conversation and buzz around re-releases are largely driven by the youth, Puri added, and it is difficult to create events out of these restored films, given that most names involved in their making are no longer around.

To be sure, the challenge for most of these titles remains that they are already available for home viewing on video streaming platforms. The reason that some romantic dramas such as Sanam Teri Kasam, Laila Majnu and Rockstar worked in their re-releases was that young audiences today hadn’t seen a hardcore love story in the past few years. Restored classics don’t cater to the same demand.

“Nobody really wants to pay top dollar for an experience possible at home. The audience for these restored films isn’t a large one; it is limited to a few cities,” independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan said.