‘Cinemawala’, a tribute to vanishing single screens: Kaushik Ganguly

“Cinemawala” revolves round the life of retired film exhibitor Pranabendu Das from a small-town and how he is forced to let go his movie theatre Kamalini as it’s celluloid projection standard becomes outdated with the advancement of digital technology.

“Cinemawala”, which will be released on May 13, is tinged with nostalgia about the bumpy projection system in mofussil halls till the 90s, the whirring ceiling fans which partly drowned the dialogues when multiplexes were unheard of, Kaushik explained.

Apart from the Unesco Felini Award at IFFI 2015, “Cinemawala” has been selected to the New York Indian Film Festival, 2016, Chennai International Film Festival, (CIFF), Pune International Film Festival, IFF Delhi, IFF Kerala, Bangalore International Film Festival among others.

“Apur Panchali” actor Parambrata Chatterjee, who essayed the role of DVD seller Prakash in “Cinemawala”, said the issue of the film itself intrigued him.

Agreeing this could be one of the most nuanced performances of his acting career, veteran actor Paran Bandyopadhyay said, “Even if multiplexes come up in cities, in the suburbs the single screen is still the king. The rural and suburban masses still sweat inside a single screen auditorium to watch their favourite films, though the number of halls is going down”.

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