The second installment of Kaahon’s conversational series with Amitabh Chakraborty, director of Cosmic Sex sheds light into the plight of distribution of independent films or for that matter any film in Bengal barring a handful. According to Amitabh releasing films in public theatres is not only expensive; it is controlled by few bigwigs who can afford to launch their products with the right kind of fanfare and pomp. In absence of the requisite resources, he has to rely on restricted release in few screens including state sponsored Nandan in Kolkata and hope to take it wider if the film is able to generate interest. Amitabh feels that when it comes to cinema, the viewers don’t have real choice anymore and moreover cinema is losing relevance as a product of exchanging cultural ideas through mass release in auditoriums. Personal viewing through internet, Amitabh believes can change this status quo but for that the business of cinema has to usher in a new model and reorganise the whole system in a fresh new light.
