Digital Desk: The Film Heritage Foundation announced a film
festival to commemorate Amitabh Bachchan's 80th birthday on Friday, with films
starring the megastar being screened in 17 cities across the country. In
collaboration with leading multiplex chain PVR Cinemas, the non-profit organization
founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has curated a
collection of 11 blockbuster films including Don, Kaala Patthar, and Kaalia.
The four-day event, titled 'Bachchan Back to the Beginning,'
will take place from October 8 to October 11, the star's birthday. The gala
will include 172 showcases and 30 screens spread across 22 cinema halls across
India.
Amitabh Bachchan stated that he never imagined a day when all of
his early career films would be re-released on the big screen.
The four-day event, titled 'Bachchan Back to the Beginning,'
will take place from October 8 to October 11, the star's birthday. The gala
will include 172 showcases and 30 screens spread across 22 cinema halls across
India.
Amitabh Bachchan stated that he never imagined a day when all of
his early career films would be re-released on the big screen.
According to a press release issued by the Film Heritage
Foundation, audiences in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,
Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Raipur, Kanpur, Kolhapur, Indore, and Bachchan's
hometown Prayagraj will be able to see some of the superstar's landmark films.
Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan,
Deewar, Mili, Satte Pe Satta, and Chupke Chupke will also be screened as part
of the festival.
According to Dungarpur, director of the Film Heritage Foundation,
the festival's goal is to give audiences a cinematic experience of Amitabh Bachchan's
films.
"Growing up, I was the biggest Amitabh Bachchan fan. I am
thrilled that the Film Heritage Foundation is honoring Mr Bachchan on his 80th
birthday with a first-of-its-kind four-day festival across the country.
"Putting together the best of his early films that launched
him as a superstar and showcasing these films so that audiences across the
country can enjoy the films the way they were originally screened on the big
screen has been a mammoth task," Dungarpur added.
PVR Cinemas has made a Rs 400 movie pass available for purchase
online through the PVR App and web as a special incentive to his fans.
The pass can be redeemed in any of the 22 cinemas where the
films are playing on any given day. According to the press release, single
movie tickets will cost Rs 80.
Dungarpur expressed gratitude to PVR Cinemas for agreeing to
screen the veteran actor's iconic films.
He also thanked film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur for his
assistance in organising the festival and mounting an exhibition of Amitabh Bachchan
memorabilia at a PVR theatre in Juhu, Mumbai's suburbs. S M M Ausaja, a film
historian, author, and archivist, curated the exhibition.
It will feature a diverse and carefully curated collection of
memorabilia, including rare vintage posters, never-before-seen shooting stills
from the superstar's career, commissioned artworks, photographs, LP jackets,
magazine covers, a seven-foot standee, and the original Shahenshah costume.
PVR Ltd Chairman & Managing Director Ajay Bijli stated that
the company is excited to collaborate with Film Heritage Foundation for the
festival.
"We are overjoyed that, for the first time ever, we will be able to stage a festival of this calibre of Mr Bachchan's films across the country to celebrate his work on the grand scale that befits the biggest icon of Indian cinema," Bijli said.
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