Dhrubo Banerjee: Quality content will bring audience back to theatre

There is a sense of euphoria among filmmakers, producers, distributors and artistes in the industry, but there also remain doubts and questions over what would actually bring the audiences back to the theatres in the pandemic world. The films that released in theatres this Puja saw a decent footfall, considering the first stage of opening cinema halls in the new normal.
Director Dhrubo Banerjee whose film ‘Golondaaz’ shooting got stalled due to the pandemic feels both quality of content and experience of watching a film in a theatre will be the crowd puller.
“Over the last few months, we have been confined to our homes and our lives were limited to watching films on laptops, mobile phones and other devices. So, this news of cinema halls reopening is like a breath of fresh air. It indicates we are adapting to the new normal with all the safety measures. Content is very important for big-screen cinema. So, the audience will get back to theatres for content and experience," explained the director during an exclusive chat with ETimes.
Dhrubo Banerjee had to stop the shoot of his period sports drama ‘Golondaaz’ midway. Starring Dev in the lead, its shoot got stalled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though more than 50% of the shoot was wrapped up before March, Dhrubo is left with shoot of the film’s climax of the film that requires a huge crowd. “Due to this requirement, we had to take the decision to postpone the shoot. Nothing can be more important than public health and safety. Since this is a sports film of the bygone era, the crowd can’t be seen in masks or using sanitizers,” added the director saying the shoot is likely to restart in November.