To mark the momentous occasion of the 80th birthday of the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, the Film Heritage Foundation announced a unique film festival titled ‘Bachchan Back to the Beginning’.
In collaboration with PVR Cinemas, the festival is sated to be one of the grandest film festivals to celebrate the icon through his films. The four-day celebrations will be conducted from 8 to 11 October 2022 in 17 cities, covering 172 showcases and 30 screens across 22 cinema halls all over India. The not-for-profit organization founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has meticulously curated a bespoke collection of eleven blockbuster films that gave birth to one of the biggest superstars of the nation who continues to shine as brightly over 50 years since his debut on the silver screen.
Audiences across cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad to Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Raipur, Kanpur, Kolhapur, Prayagraj and Indore will get the exceptional opportunity to witness the sheer magnetism of the superstar on the big screen through his landmark films such as ‘Don’, ‘Kaala Patthar’, ‘Kaalia’, ‘Kabhie Kabhie’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Namak Halaal’, ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Mili’, ‘Satte Pe Satta’ and ‘Chupke Chupke’.
Amitabh Bachchan shared his thoughts about this celebration. He said, “I didn’t think that I would see a day that all these films from my early career would be back on the big screen across the country. It is a remarkable initiative of Film Heritage Foundation and PVR to showcase not just my work, but the work of my directors, fellow actors and technicians of the time who made these films possible. It brings back an era that is gone, but not forgotten. This is why saving India’s film heritage is so important. I hope that this is just the beginning of many festivals that will celebrate landmark films of Indian cinema back on the big screen.”
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation states said, “Growing up, I was the biggest Amitabh Bachchan fan. I used to break bounds when I was in school to watch his films and was often thrown out of class in college for sitting in the back benches and writing notes about his films. I am so glad that Film Heritage Foundation is paying tribute to Mr. Bachchan on his 80th birthday with the first-of-its-kind country-wide four-day festival. It has been a mammoth task putting together the best of his early films that launched him as a superstar and to showcase these films so that audiences across the country can enjoy the films the way they were originally screened – on the big screen. I know that this will be the first of many festivals that will bring our cinematic heritage back to the theatres where it belongs.”
He added, “I’d like to thank Ajay Bijli and the team at PVR for coming on board and making it possible to screen these iconic films in 17 centres around India from megacities like Mumbai and Delhi to smaller towns like Kolhapur, Surat, Kanpur and Indore. I would also like to thank my friend Siddharth Roy Kapur for his generous support that enabled us to do the festival and mount the exhibition of Mr. Bachchan’s memorabilia at PVR Juhu.”
Ajay Bijli, Chairman & Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said, “PVR is delighted to partner with Film Heritage Foundation for ‘Bachchan Back to the Beginning’ to mark the 80th birthday of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. We are so happy that for the first time ever we are able to stage a festival of this kind of Mr. Bachchan’s films across the country to celebrate his work at the scale that is befitting the biggest icon of Indian cinema.”
“The 4-day festival presents an incredible opportunity for fans across India, in big cities and small towns, to watch Mr. Bachchan in his most memorable roles, not on phones or laptops, but larger than life on the big screen, We look forward to working with Film Heritage Foundation in the future to regularly showcase the best of India’s film heritage in our cinemas.”
Big B will be turning 80 on October 11.