The box-office woes for an array of films have been rather constant for the longest time now even though we have had a few encouraging instances as several films have been doing well, we are yet to get any huge box-office success at least when it comes to Hindi films. Amidst the theatres finding it extremely difficult to pull in viewers with new releases, it seems that the re-release trend that has been going on for a while now has certainly kept the theatres up and running. Some of the most iconic films have witnessed a re-release lately and incredible love from the people as well. A few of these films have even done great numbers upon coming back to the big screen, which has been a huge boon for a while.
It is difficult to point out when did it all start but re-releasing isn’t a new phenomenon but certainly a lot more prevalent than earlier. A more recent instance was that of M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story having a re-release in cinemas just before the fourth death anniversary of Sushant Singh Rajput. It gave people an opportunity to reminisce about the great acting talent that was Rajput and remember him dearly. Last year, around the same time, the re-release of Koi… Mil Gaya happened as the film completed 20 years. To remember the iconic scenes and of course, everyone’s beloved Jaadu saw a lot of footfalls in theatres.
The re-release of romantic dramas like Tamasha, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Jab We Met has seen probably more people flocking back to the theatres than for new releases. Imtiaz Ali can probably have his string of re-releases as Tamasha is one of the prime examples of a film not only ageing well but getting incredible love now than it did nine years ago when the film was released, while Jab We Met is an iconic film that only gets better and better with time. The biggest surprise in this category has been Rockstar as the Ali-directed film saw the maximum footfalls and even earned around Rs 2 cr after its re-release – a staggering number indeed.
It cannot be legendary enough without talking about a quartet of films starring the one and only, Shah Rukh Khan. Films like Chak De! India, Mohabbatein, Veer Zaara and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), apart from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dil Toh Pagal Hai have all seen re-releases and performed extremely well while also leading to a social media outburst of videos and posts of people enjoying them as a community in a houseful theatre.
This also ridicules the myth about OTT dominating and taking over theater viewing because of the magic and purity of going into a theater and watching a film with strangers – laughing with them, crying with them, hooting with them and just having a great time can never be replaced – be it for a new release that arrives every other week or be it an old film that is loved and is witnessing a re-release.