Ravi Chopra wants to relive his fathers films

How will Naya Daur be marketed to today's audiences?
The strongest element of that film was the music. In fact, the music of this film is used in every marriage. Even today, during the sangeet ceremony of the marriages, Naya Daur is played. So, we are going to use all this and USP obviously will be colour of the film. The basic catch phrase will be 'Was it shot in colour or black and white?'

What kind of release will the film get?
The film will be given a full fledged release like a regular film. We are trying to release it by the first week of June.

From the technical aspects lets now talk about the emotional connect of the film. What were your first memories of the film Naya Daur?
Oh, I was a kid at that time. I remember going to shooting. I had gone to this outdoor shooting to Pune. I remember the total family atmosphere that was there. We had taken a big house out there and we used to live in together. We used to play badminton and football in the evening after pack-up. I also remember Dilip (Kumar) uncle making omelets for all of us. Those are some of the fond memories that I have.

How was the response to the film when it released in 1957?
It was mind-blowing hit of that era. The film was released in Minerva and Liberty in Mumbai and the film did so well that it completed silver jubilee in both the theatres. I remember the first day, it was raining cats and dogs and there was a spree of umbrellas outside the theatre as people were crowding to watch the film.

Will attempts like re-releasing old classics give the new age audience a feel of the golden era?
I hope so because there are some beautiful films made by my father (B R Chopra), Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor which are in black and white but are classics. My concern is that we must not forget these films. It would be sad if people ever stop watching these films because they were black n white.

If this experiment works, I'll get all my father's films coloured. And I could do the same to some of the other works also.

Any other films which are in the process of being coloured?
The next film that we'll be working on is Gumraah. Then there will be Kanoon, Dhool Ka Phool etc. My dad has made 7 black and white films, which I want to colour. I had talked to Guru Dutt's children and RK's Dabbu and Chintu (Randhir and Rishi Kapoor) and I will definitely talk to them again and tell them to do this to their father's films once this experiment works.

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