Screen saviour in Lower Parel

Pranav Ashar

On the gentrified-beyond-recognition stretch of Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel, Deepak Cinema stands like a charming relic of the days when the area was a working-class neighbourhood. The movie theatre has had its share of overhauls since it first screened a film in 1926. But the story of its makeover is unlike that of the countless clone-like transformations of mills into malls, and chawls into swanky gated condominiums in the vicinity. In it, the Shahs, the family that owns the 20,000 square feet property, have retained its essence (the sprawling courtyard, the old-school ticket window and other ingredients of a single-screen theatre) while getting someone onboard they trusted with executing the real makeover - the kind of films the venue would be associated with.

From Deepak Cinema to Matterden Deepak Cinema in 2014, and now, Matterden Carnival Cinema since April, with each re-christening, Pranav Ashar, 29, has ensured the theatre has moved further away from its past association with B-Grade movies, and towards more engaging content. While for the past four years, the theatre has consistently screened acclaimed international movies and retrospectives, since the April re-launch, Ashar, filmmaker and founder and CEO of Matterden, has included independent Indian films in the programming. Discussions with filmmakers have become frequent too, where the inaugural session for this year featured a conversation with Iranian director and screenwriter Majid Majidi following a screening of his Academy Award-nominated Children of Heaven.

Matterden Carnival Cinema in Lower Parel

"We were contacted by the owners as they had learnt about the work we did with the medium of films. They were looking to work with someone who could mould the way single- screen spaces were conducted and they believed I had the right design," recalls Ashar, who is also the founder of Enlighten, a city-based film society for world cinema lovers.

The curatorial process itself is simple. "If a few people I trust - friends and professionals from film circles - love the film, it goes. It should touch me, not only in an intellectual way but in a very fundamental way," he explains, adding that the idea of screening independent films took shape when they organised a retrospective of celebrated experimental filmmaker Amit Dutta.

The theatre continues to screen mainstream releases on weekdays, interspersing the schedule with eight to 10 curated screenings a month. "The curated screenings are held during peak occupancy hours to attract the general film-goer too. The Sunday Noon Classics are most popular since the time we started them," explains Ashar. Keeping the prices reasonable - tomorrow's ticket price for the Sikkimese film, Ralang Road, is '118, for instance - has also served them in good stead. "It gives me immense joy when school kids strolling by the theatre see a physical poster of an upcoming Chaplin, Kubrick or Ray classic and make a collective plan. I have seen how entering a new world of stories can influence them positively," he beams.

Majid Majidi (in black) during a discussion at the theatre

Apart from an annual award to honour a creative personality, a Matterden Yearly Membership programme has also been launched, where those who sign up can attend 52 screenings as well as discussions with filmmakers in a year for a fee.

"It has been a liberating experience to contribute to the cultural landscape of Mumbai," says Ashar.

"We never had to reach out to people. They were drawn in. And that is how film-viewing evolves, where people find something that stirs their soul and then there is no going back."

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates