Tamil movie ‘Baba’ starring superstar Rajinikanth in the lead role boasted a stellar star cast and had many high-profile names behind the camera too. However, the mega-budget movie that was released in 2002 tanked at the box office. Twenty years later, the remastered version of ‘Baba’ has been creating ripples in the theatres in Tamil Nadu, with splendid visual and acoustic quality and a thrilling new climax. Due to huge crowds, the number of theatres in which the movie is being exhibited went up from 200 to 300. Fans have been thronging the theatres to watch the remastered version of the movie that was re-released on the 72nd birthday of the superstar. Interestingly, the remastered version, which was done on a budget that is much lesser than taking a new Rajni movie, has been setting the cash registers ring at the box office. Meanwhile, having realised the splendid scope of remastered films, more movies are likely to be re-released like this. Movie lovers in Kerala are eagerly awaiting the release of the remastered version of ‘Spadikam’. They are curious to watch their iconic character Aadu Thoma played brilliantly by Mohanlal, once again on the big screen. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on 9 February 2023. On the next day, the Hollywood movie ‘Titanic’ which has earned a cult classic status would be released with 4 K HDR quality.
What is remastering?
The remastered version of ‘Spadikam’ would have 4 K visual quality and Dolby atmos acoustic properties. It has been a long cherished dream of the movie’s director Bhadran to re-release the iconic movie in theatres. The original negative of the film was preserved in the Gemini Studio in Chennai. It was owned by producer R Mohan. The negative was taken to the US for reworking. The original images from this negative were transformed into digital format. This alone cost around Rs 30 lakh. After that, each element was retouched to make it more appealing. Meanwhile, some shots had to be re-shot as things didn’t work out as they had planned. The movie’s original audio is in the mono version. This was changed into the modern atmos version by noted sound expert Rajakrishna. Meanwhile, the original background scores were deleted to add the new atmos versions of them. The remastering works were done at a total cost of around Rs 1 crore.
The Negative
The remastering job begins by finding the original negative of the movie and scanning it. If the negative is not in a good shape, then it could affect the quality of the film. Meanwhile, the colouring works would be done simultaneously. It is only after this stage that the various problems in negative would be rectified. The sound is worked only in the last phase. If the movie is meant for theatrical release, the sound would be changed to Dolby atmos quality. Meanwhile, the visuals would be changed to 4 K quality. Interestingly, OTT platforms are the main markets of the remastered versions. The greatest advantage of remastered movies is that the production houses need not spend hefty sums to make movies exclusively for the OTT platforms. The remastered version of a super hit movie could be released digitally for just Rs 2 -3 lakh. Some companies might upload the latest versions on YouTube too. However, losing the negative had been a major setback for many such Malayalam movies.
Tamil and Telugu industries
Around fifteen remastered movies including superstar Mahesh Babu’s ‘Pokkiri’ had set the screens on fire this year, in the Telugu industry. The new version of ‘Pokkiri’ collected Rs 2.60 crore while Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Jalsa’ collected Rs 3.2 crore. Meanwhile, Rajinikanth’s ‘Sivaji’ was re-released with 4 K quality. Balakrishna’s ‘Chennakesava Reddy’ amassed a whopping Rs 5.3 crore from the box office. Many veteran producers are considering remastering their old super hit movies as OTT platforms are willing to buy the new versions. Interestingly, production houses like Aashirvad Cinemas have been uploading HD versions of the scenes and songs from some of their popular movies on their YouTube channel. The millions of views and likes that these scenes and songs amass are proof enough that the audience has been loving these reworked versions.
