The brisk business which some old films are doing at the box-office in their revival is both, surprising and heartwarming. Imtiaz Ali’s Laila Majnu, when it was revived last month on an all-India level, netted more in its repeat-run than it did in its first run — and that must be a record for any film!
After the grand success of Laila Majnu, another film which has taken the trade by surprise is Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein. The love story, which had flopped when it was first released, netted Rs. 6-7 crore in its all-India revival. The net collections of Rockstar of almost Rs. 10 crore in its revival, when it stayed put in cinemas for as long as 5 weeks, is considered outstanding. Tumbbad, which is being revived from 13th September, is expected to score at the ticket windows in a major way, if the advance ticket sales are anything to go by. Where advance bookings for many new films are sluggish, can you believe that tickets of Tumbbad have even sold at the advance booking counters? Other old films slated to hit the screens this week are Veer-Zaara and Tujhe Meri Kasam.
What could the reason be for films to do well in their repeat-runs? After all, several of them have been seen repeatedly by the audience on satellite television or on OTT platforms. Of course, there are some among the old revived films, which are not available on OTT/satellite. Anyway, coming to the other reasons: one could be nostalgia value. The second could be hit music. The third reason could be lack of entertaining content among the new releases. And then, of course, ticket prices. The repeat-run films are offered to the public at rates ranging from Rs. 80-100 to Rs. 150-200 depending upon the properties and class (recliners, non-recliners, etc.).
Deepak Sharma of PVR-Inox says, “I’ve got requests to revive films as old as Aradhana and Amar Prem. But let me warn that it’s an overkill. If films are intelligently selected and they are revived, say, one film a month or one film a fortnight, the novelty value of watching old films will be maintained for the public. Otherwise, at the rate at which we are going today, we will ruin the chances of even merit-worthy old films.” Sunil Gholap of Movie Time chain of cinemas says, “At the rate at which tickets of Tumbbad are selling in advance at our properties, I have no doubt that it will prove to be a hit in its repeat-run.” He adds, “Eros had wanted to release it some weeks back but cancelled the revival, opting instead for a planned all-India revival this week, with a proper promotional campaign. It’s good because Eros will reap the fruits.”