April 13, 2025 at 1:30:00 AM
AFS Cinema
Online May 2 - 4
Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
Indie Meme Special 10th Year
Retrospective Showcase
BACK THEN - The Story of Live Music in Bombay
India | Documentary
2024 | 57 mins | English
Preceded by a 10-minute music set by Specific Thing.
Recorded Q&A with directors Anindita Dutta Roy and Abhishek Chandran
Limited tickets available on site.
Yellowstone International Film Festival Best Documentary Film Winner
'BACK THEN - The Story of Live Music in Bombay' is a documentary film that takes the viewer back
30 years in time to explore the sounds of the city's musical counterculture as it was. It puts you into the shoes of its mercurial artists, passionate folks behind the scenes, and misfits who went to gigs through the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s. The film puts a spotlight on what happened in the shadowy world of underground live music and answers questions like what it meant to watch an artist live in 1994, what it’s like today, and what kind of underground music was played in 2006. Over the span of 53 minutes, it cruises through real and rare DIY stories all the way from the 1990s, right up to 2023.
Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film.
Restoration Process
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Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing.
Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram.
Meet Specific Thing
About the Artist
Photo courtesy:
Film Heritage Foundation
Director:
Director Anindita is from Calcutta. She has a Master’s in Journalism and experience in acting/directing student films, and digital films in her advertising career. Her husband’s gig-going stories and her discoveries of counterculture having lived across India inspired this debut. With her background in journalism, she never imagined that her first film would be about the subject of ‘live music.’ In the process of making this film, she has tried to recreate her desired youth days in a way the rebel in her would have wanted to live. The inspiration for this movie comes from attending several alternate and underground live music gigs with her partner. She wanted the entire world to see Bombay through this sub-culture lens and witness the magic of ‘these misfits’ featured in the movie. She is a keen observer of the cultural nuances of India and the world and has absorbed more than most, having lived across India.
Next, she will document brown women and their esoteric communities.
Co-Director:
Director Abhishek Chandran has his roots in a small town in Thrisshur, Kerala but grew up in the maximum city, Mumbai. While pursuing mass communication, he made multiple music-videos and short films. While he’s had a career in advertising, his avocations have been musical. Next, he will archive his family tree of 120+ members across the world.This documentary is hugely inspired from his own coming-of-age story with different forms of live music in Mumbai.
Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
Trailer
Credits
Director:
Writer:
Abhishek Chandran
Producers:
Ritwik Ghosh
Jitin Hingorani
Film Editor:
Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation
Restoration Credit:
Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul)
Thank you to our community partners for this screening!
