The idea for a film — which, over the years, has traversed the spectrum of genre-bending to genre-defying to finally, and rightfully, genre-defining — stayed in cold storage for almost two decades before its maker found a producer willing to back his script. That didn’t materialise after a point. After several trials and tribulations — which included its original male lead dropping out when the shoot stalled — the film, with its new lead actor also co-producing it, saw the light of day in the theatres. This was 2018, exactly 25 years after its director Rahi Anil Barve had first heard a story by celebrated Marathi writer Narayan Dharap, that formed the kernel of his film. It was called Tumbbad.
A compelling blend of folklore, horror, magic realism, moody atmospherics, mythology and social commentary, Tumbbad premiered at the Venice International Film Festival that year and was unanimously praised by critics when it released theatrically in India. But despite the positive reviews and strong word-of-mouth, it didn’t make the box-office numbers it should have. Its niche genre, lack of star power, a narrative that may have seemed slightly confusing to some and a story steeped in darkness may have had a lot to do with it.
But in the six years that followed, the film, which released on streaming a few years after its big-screen showing, has gained almost cult status, with its superior filmmaking and clutter-breaking storytelling finding fans in the discerning movie goer and even beyond.
The fairy tale of this folk horror story, however, has been its re-release. In a year when Bollywood has cooked the re-release format — and cooked it well so far — to lure audiences, now subsisting on a steady diet of Netflix and Prime Video, back to the theatres, Tumbbad has definitely been its biggest trump card... and its biggest triumph.
Released wide in theatres across the country on September 13, Tumbbad, on its re-release leg, is a bona fide success. The numbers speak for themselves. Despite the onslaught of Stree 2, which at ₹600-crore, now sits at the top of the heap of the highest-earning Hindi films in India of all time, Tumbbad has defied expectations. Its second-week numbers (₹8.13-crore) across India have been bigger than those in its first week (₹7.34-crore). As of Monday (September 23), Tumbbad had raked in ₹21.57-crore all-India nett BOC. It is well on its way to surpassing the revenue it brought in in its first outing six years ago.
VINDICATION, VALIDATION, VICTORY
“I feel that the film has got justice now. What happened with Tumbbad when it released in 2018 was grossly unjust. As an artiste, one always wants that your work should be seen by the maximum number of people,” the film’s leading man Sohum Shah, who also stepped in to produce it when everyone had refused, told t2 in a recent chat after the re-release of the film.
Sohum, who plays the central role of Vinayak in the film, lived and breathed Tumbbad for many years, putting his weight behind the project and playing a key role in propelling it to the finish line. Today, the actor who has since featured in central roles in shows like Dahaad and Maharani, feels vindicated with the love the film is receiving.
“When we started making Tumbbad, the streaming platforms were not in existence. We had made this film for the big screen. We wanted people to walk out of the film and ask: ‘Yaar, bahaar baarish ho rahi hain kya?’ That is because rain is an indelible character in this film. But the number of people who ended up watching in the theatres was less. A lot of people watched it on OTT later.”
In a pre-release interview with t2 on his visit to Calcutta in 2018, just days before the release of the film, director Rahi Anil Barve had insisted that Tumbbad was a big-screen experience. “We have made a very visceral film with surrealistic overtones, which is best watched on the big screen,” Barve had said then. On that trip, he was accompanied by filmmaker Aanand L. Rai, who, impressed by Tumbbad, had come on board to support it. As had Ship of Theseus maker Anand Gandhi.
Today, the majority of Tumbbad’s takers in its theatrical re-run are the ones who watched it in the OTT format and now want to experience it on the big screen. “We have wide shots in the film, frames that look like paintings. We did a lot of VFX work. It was a film that was always meant to be watched in theatres,” Sohum tells t2.
In its re-release, Tumbbad has become an event film, a festival release, says Sohum. He isn’t exaggerating. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh feels that if there is a flag bearer, a poster-boy, of the re-release phenomenon of 2024, it has to be Tumbbad. “This film has shown that a good film, no matter how long it takes and how arduous its journey, will always find its audience,” says Adarsh.
That Tumbbad would change the game in the long run was evident early on. A tweet from Shah Rukh Khan in 2018 — “Saw bits of this extremely well-crafted film. A genre we normally don’t push boundaries in. Wishing my friends the best with this venture and hope u all watch it and enjoy it. #Tumbbad the Trailer” — has gone viral after Tumbbad’s re-release. Sohum counts filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, too, as a big supporter of the film. “When he watched it years ago, he was very effusive in his praise for Tumbbad and praised my physical transformation for the part,” recalls Sohum.
SECOND COMING
The idea of re-releasing the film had been on the cards for Team Tumbbad for a while but the reality check of economics had always come in the way. “We always used to toy with the idea of re-releasing the film but whoever I spoke to at that time didn’t think that re-releasing it was a wise decision. But on social media, especially over the last few years, so many people had asked me to re-release the film. Anything I posted on social media would be met with two questions: ‘When is Tumbbad 2 being made?’ and ‘Why don’t you release Tumbbad again?’ I wanted to do it but I didn’t have the courage to. I kept wondering whether it would be some kind of indulgence because the world of social media is very small. I didn’t know whether the audience at large wanted the film to re-release. Finally the chatter became so loud that I decided I shouldn’t let go of this opportunity, both for myself and for the audience,” Sohum reveals to t2.
In its re-release campaign, Team Tumbbad has made sure it leaves no stone unturned. Buoyed by an increased demand and a bigger budget, Sohum mounted an eyeball-grabbing campaign for its second coming. “I re-released it with a proper campaign. We made a new trailer, new posters. We made more posters this time than we did for the original release! For me, it is not a re-release... I feel that the film is releasing for the first time,” says Sohum. Almost every day since it’s re-release, Team Tumbbad is posting behind-the-scenes clips and other interesting nuggets from the film, piquing further interest.
THE POWER OF TWO
A significant part of the Tumbbad re-release campaign has been the announcement of its sequel. Barve, now busy with his epical web series Rakht Brahmand and Gulkanda Tales, will not be attached to Part Two, but Sohum and Adesh Prasad, who co-directed the first film, are well on course to serve up a worthy follow-up.
“We always wanted to make more parts of the film. That is why I am attached to the film till this day. For the sequel, we threw around a lot of ideas. About 30-40 pages were written on each idea. But none of those ideas were working and I didn’t want a weak film to be the follow-up to Tumbbad. I didn’t want to ride on the clamour for the success and just make a sequel for the sake of making it. Finally, this year, we zeroed in on a script. We had been working on it for nine months. We locked it two months ago and announced it now. We go on the floors next year,” Sohum tells t2. A teaser for Tumbbad 2 at the end of Tumbbad’s re-release print has elicited tremendous excitement among fans.
The news of at least one more instalment of Tumbbad has met with huge cheers. Some may be lamenting Barve’s exit, but many others can’t wait to relive the magic, twice over. “A film as inventive and original as Tumbbad deserves a sequel. This was long overdue,” wrote a user on X.
The craze for Tumbbad 2 is a shot in the arm for Sohum and Co. “Tumbbad may not have got large numbers at the box office, but it did win a lot of love. The second time around, we are hoping for both,” signs off Sohum.
