Come, let's fall in love again

The Prem-starrer Mathe Banni Preethsona returns to the big screen this week
When director-producer Ravindra Das released his film, the Prem- and Karishma Tanna-starrer I Am Sorry... Mathe Banni Preethsona back in June, little did he reckon that its theatre stay would be shortlived, despite appreciative reviews and good audience feedback.
But the filmmaker's hand was forced when the distributor of his film decided to release another film starring Prem, just days after I Am Sorry...hit theatres. He even reduced the number of halls that the film was playing at. 'It was a very emotional moment for me. I am not sure if I made a mistake back then, but I decided to pull my film out of theatres in favour of Prem's Dan Dana Dan. The idea was to bring my film back at some point,' says Ravindra.
The director knew that bringing a film back to cinema screens without the support of a distributor was going to be tough, but that's where Ravindra found fortune. A few people who had seen his film and loved it and believed that it deserved a second chance got together and invested 65 lakh to ensure its return. Under the guidance of actor Ambareesh, and led by Nanagowda Virader and marketing professional Leelashankar, the group has re-released the film with a shorter title and an extra song. 'I watched the film after seeing that most reviews for it were favourable. So it c a m e as a surprise that it was pulled out of theatres. This is a beautifully made movie that deserves to be out there for audiences to see and appreciate. I met Ambareesh to discuss this and he encouraged me to make the rerelease happen,' says Leelashankar.
Naturally, Ravindra is elated. 'This is the first time in the history of cinema, perhaps, that the audience is taking it upon itself to bring a film back to theatres,' he says. The question, though, is why did he pull his film out when it was doing well? 'I had faith in my film, but I was not sure if audiences would have the budget to watch two Prem movies back-to-back. If a film with any other hero had released then, I would have taken on the challenge. Which is why we are now not perturbed by the fact that a Sudeep-starrer and a big Hollywood production are in theatres now, and that an SRK film will hit theatres next week. My film is an emotional thriller and the content is good enough to take on any challenge. It will get its share of the audience,' Ravindra signs off.