New Monthly Series Celebrating Indian Films To Launch At The Coolidge In October

The Coolidge Corner Theatre will launch of Cinema Masala, a new monthly series dedicated to celebrating India's vibrant film history. Cinema Masala was curated in partnership with the acclaimed filmmaker and preservationist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, who is the founding director of Film Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to preserving India's cinematic legacy. 

In India, a “masala film” (named for a blend of spices) mixes genres: action, romance, comedy, drama, musical. Masala films are enjoyed by all and are best seen on the big screen, where audiences can laugh, cry, sing, and even dance in the aisles. With this series, we bring you our own masala, featuring a selection of films from different genres, eras, and languages.

The Coolidge's Cinema Masala series kicks off on Saturday, October 4 at 11am with a screening of the iconic, beloved Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ). Starring Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, DDLJ still screens daily—three decades after its release—at the Maratha Mandir Theatre in Mumbai.

Additional upcoming titles include Amar Akbar Anthony, Manthan, Devdas, and Dil Chahta Hai, with others to be announced.

A full schedule/film synopses are included below.

“India is home to the world's largest film industry, producing thousands of films a year in over a dozen languages, featuring some of the biggest stars on the planet. From action spectacles to romantic epics, from intimate dramas to historical sagas, Cinema Masala offerings showcase big emotions, spellbinding dance numbers, and iconic songs. We are honored to be working with the Film Heritage Foundation to bring these vibrant films to Boston audiences,” remarked Beth Gilligan, Deputy Director of the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

“Film Heritage Foundation is delighted to showcase the richness and diversity of Indian cinema on the big screen at a historic venue like the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The regular monthly screenings is a feast for cinephiles that will give audiences in Boston an opportunity to immerse themselves in the historical and contemporary culture of India through the lens of cinema,” noted Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founding director of Film Heritage Foundation.

CINEMA MASALA: Sept 2025 - March 2026 Titles

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge [DDLJ]

Aditya Chopra - 3h 9m

Sat, Oct 4

Three decades since its release, the magic of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) remains undiminished; the film still screens daily at the Maratha Mandir Theatre in Mumbai. Audiences will fall in love with the charming Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) and the spirited Simran (Kajol), both Indians raised in the UK, who meet on a train when traveling with their friends across Europe. A frothy love story develops against picture-postcard Alpine landscapes, and the couple's romance is threatened when Simran's father takes her to India for an arranged marriage. The film wears its patriotism on its sleeve as it captures the conflict between modern attitudes toward love and traditional Indian values, where duty to the family takes precedence.

Amar Akbar Anthony

Manmohan Desai - 2h 55m

Sun, Nov 9

Amar Akbar Anthony is a pure entertainer, directed by Manmohan Desai, that combined action, comedy, and melodrama to become a huge box office success when it was released. The film tells the story of three brothers—Amar (Vinod Khanna), Akbar (Rishi Kapoor), and Anthony (Amitabh Bachchan)—who are separated in childhood, subsequently adopted by families of different faiths (Hindu, Muslim, and Christian), and finally reunited by fate in adulthood. Through some incredible coincidences, miracles, and flights of fancy, where the audience is required to suspend disbelief, the happy ending has the long-lost brothers reuniting to defeat the villains that destroyed their family.

Devdas

Sanjay Leela Bhansali - 3h 5m

Sat, Dec 6

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 novel Devdas has acquired an almost mythical status in India, having been adapted for the screen a record twenty times in multiple languages since the first silent film version in 1928. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's adaptation is a sumptuously mounted romantic period drama with opulent sets, luxurious costumes, and spectacular choreography that tells the tragic tale of star-crossed lovers Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) and Paro (Aishwarya Rai) on a grand operatic scale. Childhood sweethearts, Devdas and Paro's plans to marry are rebuffed by Devdas's wealthy family. In retaliation, Paro's family arranges her marriage to an older aristocrat while a heartbroken Devdas leaves his home and descends into alcoholism, finding solace with a warm-hearted courtesan (Madhuri Dixit).

Manthan

Shyam Benegal - 2h 14m

Sun, Jan 4

Manthan is a fictionalized account of the extraordinary dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world's largest milk producer. It is also India's first crowdfunded film, produced by 500,000 dairy farmers who contributed two rupees each toward the production. When Dr. Rao (Girish Karnad), an idealistic veterinary surgeon from the city, arrives in a small village to start a milk cooperative movement, his notions of equitable distribution of profits—irrespective of class and caste and free of exploitative middlemen—churn up a maelstrom of mistrust, anger, and resistance that threatens the deep-rooted social hierarchy based on generations of discrimination.

February Title TBA

Sat, Feb 7 

Dil Chata Hai

Farhan Akhtar - 3h 5m

Sun, March 8