SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENED WITH PATHAAN AT KOLKATA'S SINGLE SCREENS AND EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IT

By Ahona

In the story of Pathaan as a single screen phenomenon, there are two chapters. The first is a rumour - in Kolkata, apparently, the makers haven't allowed single screens to screen any other regional film along with Pathaan at any showtime. The second is the content and promise of the film itself, what it means to the single screen economy. Here's why you should know about this - cinema is both art and industry, and the act of engaging with a film involves both those aspects. And analysing a film like Pathaan must necessarily include a look at its financial aspirations because that is coded into the artistic content of the film. If the rumour about its marketing strategy is true, it is diabolical. Upon rechecking show schedules across Kolkata, I have found that major single screens that are screening Pathaan are not screening anything else. In an earlier attempt at this article, I had considered the possibility of single screens choosing to screen Pathaan exclusively of their own accord. To understand if that is possible, you would have to look at the content of the film. First and foremost, it features both the myth and humanity of Shahrukh Khan. This film is a love letter to his fans, and its story is tailored to his larger-than-life silhouette, registering the nuances of his public identity. It makes note of his national identity, it conveys his gratitude to the people who have loved and sheltered him in their hearts despite the hatred. It registers his charm. It draws from his endearing goofiness. It offers an allegory for the politics of his stardom he finds love, he faces betrayal, he earns redemption. I saw it at a single screen myself. The coffee-seller outside looked at me with perceptible glee in her eyes. "Houseful!" she said to me, and I knew what she meant by houseful. She has probably sold more coffees this week than she has the rest of the month. She looks at the poster of Pathaan with an affection so genuine it is almost motherly. It is an affection reflected by the people in the theatre. At each plot point in the film, the hall erupted, clapping, hooting, cheering, laughing almost partaking of his success. Shahrukh Khan's magnetism washes over the film. You know that there are logical flaws in the action sequences. You also know that they are not meant to be taken literally. The film is cueing you to look at this as a visual spectacle. Its magnificent villain and his tragic backstory, along with missiles, guns, foreign locations, superstar cameos and Shahrukh Khan's impact, give the film an enormous scale. It is mounted on an extraordinarily high production value - one that is difficult for a Bengali film to compete with. The Bengali film industry is facing problems of its own. The films that have done well here, do not financially compare with successful regional cinema from elsewhere. This finance is necessary for the making of cinema. If one were to list the films that have substantially connected to wider audiences in the last few years, they would have a handful of films. Even those have been limited to Bengal. The Bengali film industry is not making an inventive film that is marketable at a national level, like Kantara. Neither does it have the funds to afford the grandeur of an RRR. For a state that once provided the cultural context for even mainstream cinema to have a remarkably broad-minded worldview, it is now an industry that mostly comprises filmmakers who are so desperate for something successful, that they forget what is meaningful. A rumour like this, whether true or false, draws further attention to this problem. And that problem is registered by even those within the industry. In a 2022 interview with Zee, actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee notes this same problem. Naming the few films that have run successfully here, like Projapoti or Ballabhpurer Roopkatha, isn't enough. One has to take into account how that success compares to the success of other regional cinema.

It goes without saying that the impact of Hindi cinema, or Southern blockbusters has reduced Bengali cinema's ticket size to an extent. But internally, this industry is going through a financial and artistic crisis. There are a few exceptions, but many filmmakers here are plumbing Bengali literature for scripts, producing the same detective cinema, or formulaic biopics, or sappy, sentimental, half-baked cinema that caters to middle-class morality. I do not say this without experience. I have sat through the poorly adapted detective films out of my love for the extraordinary literature that such detectives come from. I have sat through the biopics out of curiosity. I have sat through the excruciatingly cheesy moralistic family dramas. Even what is somewhat good, a few films here and there, suffer from a very low production value. A considerable part of the content on OTT platforms is sexualised without any understanding of sexuality, a desperate, disrespectful attempt at grabbing attention. When a film like Pathaan is rumoured to be marketed in this manner, the need to understand cinema as a commercial artform becomes even more necessary. If that marketing strategy is what people are saying it is, it is unjust and that goes without saying. But the people who are complaining that the success of other regional cinema and Hindi cinema is solely responsible for the decay in the Bengali film industry they are grossly mistaken. There's a hashtag about this too, asking people to stand by Bengali cinema. But it is a misleading hashtag, one that is refusing to look at the internal flaws of the industry. It is imperative that this industry recognises the kind of work happening elsewhere in India, beyond Bollywood, and sees that work as an inspiration instead of a threat. This is not an attempt to condone larger industries that monopolise markets. Neither is this an attempt to ask the Bengali film industry to model its content on what has been proven successful in other regions. This is an appeal to this film industry to look at itself, its problems, to work on them, to create a sustainable framework that isn't driven by formulas. As someone with an umbilical tie to Bengal's cultural context, as someone waiting eagerly for a well- structured, well-produced Bengali film that can appeal nationally and internationally, it is a request for this industry to explore its own potential better.