The THFF is a touring film festival with its first edition in Ladakh and films being screened in an inflatable theatre. It aims to bring together the talent of aspiring filmmakers. SUPRIYA RAMESH tells you more

Your idle movie time might be a day out with your friends or family at a theatre. But have you imagined watching a movie in the Himalayas? Well, Himalayas are no more just about trekking or stargazing. The five-day-long Himalayan Film Festival is taking place in Leh capital city as part of the celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ for commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence.

It aims to create an interactive and exposure platform to promote aspiring local filmmakers and to showcase Ladakh as an attractive film destination with people participating from all the Himalayan regions of India, Tibet and Nepal.

The festival is being organised by Leh in collaboration with the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is held at the Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra at Leh.

Movies in the Himalayas? That too in an inflatable cinema theatre? That sounds quite strange as well as exciting. The administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh has collaborated with Picturetime to screen films in one of the Picturetime theatres. It is an inflatable cinema theatre company that just launched the world's highest altitude cinema theatre in Ladakh, installed at a height of 11,562 feet.

In India, where there are less than 10,000 screens, with such an innovation, screening is no longer an issue. “When I looked at the travelling cinema I realised if we can build a cinema theatre following the same concept but using the building material or design which will not compromise the cinematic experience, I designed an inflatable cinema theatre screen. We got the patent for this design and currently, our vision is to set up 3000 cinema screens across India,” says Sushil Chaudhary, founder and CEO of Picturetime Digiplex.

Speaking about why India has fewer screens he says, “The two main reasons why India doesn't have cinema screens are because of the high real estate price and regulatory constraint, that is the permission to set up a cinema theatre.”

Inflatable theatre seems like a future for such touring festivals as it would not just be about grabbing your seat at a four-walled theatre and sticking to it until the movie is over. It takes the whole experience of watching a movie to the next level. However, for smooth viewing, it is important to have the right technical specification and the right film. “Physical infrastructure and ambience can be created but the right format and right standards are very important. At Picturetime we follow all those standards and we ensure that viewers have a smooth experience,” says Chaudhary.

Well, setting up the inflatable theatre didn’t come easy. At first, it was difficult to put across the whole idea of the inflatable cinema to people. The locals who long for cinema found this concept quite different and took some time to accept it. It was difficult for people to comprehend what an inflatable theatre would be like or what a mobile digital movie theatre is. Chaudhary says that this challenge is taken care of once they step inside the theatre.

“Another challenge is convincing the administration that this theatre will give multiplex par experience,” he tells you.  Popular films from the Himalayan states viz Assam, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh besides Indian panorama selected films will be showcased during the festival.

Film ‘Shershaah’ directed by Vishnuvardhan was chosen as an opening film as it was shot in that region and people resonate well with it. “Film has a great response and people really wished to see it on the big screen. Watching a film like Shershaah on the big screen will be an experience so many have been waiting for,” he tells you.

He further adds that the closing film is ‘Shepherdess of the Glaciers’, a brilliant Ladakhi film shot in Leh. With this, the idea is to showcase the talent of Ladakh to the world.

There will also be a competition section for short films and documentaries to recognise talented filmmakers in the Himalayan region of India, connect to the sparsely located film-making community of the region and encourage fresh talent.

While RajKumar Hirani’s ‘3 idiots’, Raja Shabir Khan’s ‘Shepherds of Paradise’,  Bedabrata Pain’s ‘Chittagong’ and  S Nallamuthu’s  ‘The World’s Most Famous Tiger’ are some of the Hindi films that shall be screened at the Picturetime theatre, films from various other regions that shall be screened are ‘Yathavat’ directed by Tribeni Rai (Nepali), ‘Mane De Phere’ directed by Sanjeev Rattan (Himachali), ‘Yarwng’ directed by Joseph Pulinthanath (Tripura), Crossing Bridges’ directed by Sange Dorjee Thongdok (Arunachal Pradesh), ‘Ishu’ - Directed by Utpal Borpujari (Assamese), Naga Documentary -  “The Pangti Story” directed by Sesino Yhoshu and ‘Iewduh’ Directed by Pradip Kurbah (Khasi, Meghalaya ).

To ensure everyone’s safety during the festival, Picturetime has decided to abide by all COVID-19 SOPs laid down by the government. With maintaining adequate distance, they will be sanitising the theatre after screening every movie. “We will make that people wear masks throughout the fest. We are not giving any relaxation to people who got vaccinated, the rules are the same for them too,” Chaudhary concludes.