Amitabh Bachchan film festival to be held in 17 cities across India to mark his 80th birthday; 11 iconic films to be screened at PVR Cinemas

11 iconic movies from his filmography will be screened on 22 screens in PVR Cinemas across 17 cities in India.

September 30, 2022 - 12:15 PM IST

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan will celebrate his 80^th birthday on October 11. Known for his mega movie star status and brilliant performances in films spanning decades, there will be a grand celebration in his honour. To mark his 80^th birthday, a film festival will be organised in October. The Film Heritage Foundation is organising a 4-day film festival starting from October 8 to October 11 to celebrate Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday. 11 iconic movies from his filmography will be screened at 22 screens in PVR Cinemas across 17 cities in India.

Amitabh Bachchan film festival to be held in 17 cities across India to mark his 80th birthday; 11 iconic films to be screened at PVR Cinemas

The films that will be premiered are Don, Kaala Patthar, Kaalia, Kabhi Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan, Deewar, Mili, Satte Pe Satta and Chupke Chupke. Apart from this, a special exhibition of Amitabh Bachchan memorabilia will also be held at PVR Cinemas at Juhu in Mumbai. It will be organised by SMM Ausaja.

As a special incentive to his fans who want to enjoy all the movies, PVR has made available a Movie Pass that can be purchased online through the PVR App and Web. The pass can be redeemed across all days in any of the 22 cinemas where the movies are running. Additionally, all visiting patrons to PVR Juhu in Mumbai will get a chance to reminisce the golden days with the display of Mr. Bachchan's photos and posters, in conjunction with the festival at an exhibition curated by film historian, author and memorabilia archivist, SMM Ausaja.

Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman & Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said, “PVR is delighted to partner with Film Heritage Foundation for Amitabh Bachchan Film Festival to mark the 80th birthday of the legendary actor. 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.”

Mr. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Founder Director of Film Heritage Foundation, 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. 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 cities 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.”

Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, commenting on the festival, 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”.

Film Heritage Foundation is a not-for-profit organization set up by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in 2014. It is dedicated to supporting the conservation, preservation and restoration of the moving image and to developing interdisciplinary programs to create awareness about the language of cinema.

On the work front, Amitabh Bachchan was most recently seen in Brahmastra with Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. The film was helmed by Ayan Mukerji. He will next star in Vikas Bahl’s Goodbye starring Rashmika Mandanna and Neena Gupta. He also has Unnchai with Sooraj Barjatya, The Intern remake with Deepika Padukone and Project K with Prabhas and Deepika.