The Coolidge Corner Theatre is proud to unveil a new initiative to expand our popular Cinema Masala series from its home in Brookline to five additional art house cinemas across the country.
Theatres in San Francisco, Houston, Tampa, Atlanta, and New York City will each screen a program of five classics of Indian popular cinema, many of which have rarely been seen on the big screen in North America.
“I grew up watching Indian films, and there’s something truly special about experiencing them on the big screen. When I saw how enthusiastically audiences embraced Cinema Masala at the Coolidge here in Massachusetts, I began to imagine what it could look like across the country. I’ve always believed that philanthropy comes in many forms, and this is an opportunity to support independent art houses by bringing something folks love to these community spaces. My hope is that Cinema Masala will connect the Indian diaspora with its local theatres, introduce new audiences to Indian film and help these wonderful community institutions thrive.” –Sapna Saxena, who conceived and initiated the Cinema Masala program with the Coolidge
About Cinema Masala
Begun in 2025 and presented monthly, Cinema Masala has already brought 10 screenings of beloved Indian popular films to screen at the Coolidge. Films in this series embrace the breadth of Bollywood-style commercial film, as well as other underseen facets of Indian cinema, such as films made by non-commercial cooperatives and films in languages other than Hindi. The Coolidge's inaugural season of Cinema Masala sold more than 2,000 tickets, with many patrons expressing joy and gratitude to the Coolidge for showcasing these beloved films.
Cinema Masala is presented in association with the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation, the only non-governmental organization working in the field of film preservation in India. This program was founded and is made possible by Sapna Saxena.
“I was delighted to hear about the enthusiastic response to the films Film Heritage Foundation selected together with the Coolidge to be screened under the banner of Cinema Masala. I am so happy that this program is going to be expanded across the country. It’s wonderful to imagine that this initiative will act as a catalyst to support independent local cinemas and draw the Indian diaspora as well as new audiences to watch these films. I am sure that Cinema Masala will continue to spread its wings and build a community of people who will fall in love with the richness and diversity of Indian cinema." –Film Heritage Foundation Founder and Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
In addition to arranging with overseas film studios to bring their films to the US as a part of this national expansion, Cinema Masala is also providing direct support to participating theatres in the form of grants to subsidize promotion of the films, special events surrounding the screenings, and other initiatives alongside the program. In keeping with the Coolidge’s nonprofit mission to build communities through film culture, there is no cost to partner cinemas to take part in Cinema Masala.
Screenings will begin in late 2026 and continue into the spring and summer of 2027.
“Cinema Masala was founded last year from a common recognition that many film-lovers in the States were familiar with India’s vibrant popular cinema by reputation, but had never had the opportunity to see the films on a big screen, with top-notch picture and sound, the way they were meant to be experienced. Serious moviegoing is in renaissance; we see it in our own theatre every day, and we know that other cinemas across the country are seeing it too. We want this often-neglected part of world cinema to be included in this period of rediscovery." –Jon Kieran, senior programmer at the Coolidge
Participating Theatres
We are excited to engage the following five cinemas in the inaugural year of Cinema Masala's nationwide expansion:
Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY
Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, GA
River Oaks Theatre in Houston, TX
The Roxie Theater in San Francisco, CA
Tampa Theatre in Tampa, FL
National Program of Films
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
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.
Three decades since its release, the magic of DDLJ remains undiminished; the film still screens daily at the Maratha Mandir Theatre in Mumbai.
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994)
A tale of matrimony, loss and undying love, centering on orphaned brothers Rajesh (Monish Bahl) and Prem (Salman Kahn), who become enamored with family friend Pooja (Renuka Shahane) and her spunky sister Nisha (Madhuri Dixit). What starts with an arranged marriage between families, and changes to a charming double romance, takes a turn for the tragic when Pooja dies unexpectedly, leaving behind an infant and questions about Nisha’s duty to her family. This blockbuster of blockbusters took the Indian movie-going public by storm, breaking box-office records and bursting at the seams with drama, romance and 14 different musical numbers. Today, it’s credited with pushing Bollywood toward more romantic stories after the action-heavy ‘80s, and its iconic songs are still wedding staples.
Manthan (1976)
Manthan is 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.
Pakeezah (1972)
When director Kamal Amrohi set out to make a film dedicated to his wife, the actress Meena Kumari, he had no way of knowing that the project would take him across two decades, multiple pauses in production, and the breakup of the marriage that inspired him in the first place. It’s a real-life drama that almost rivals the tale of Salim (Ashok Kumar), a chivalrous forest ranger, and Sahibjaan (Kumari), the tawaif brothel worker whose beauty captivates him. Shot in rich Eastmancolor on gloriously sumptuous sets, Pakeezah wraps its tortured romance in an eye-popping fabric of warmth and visual texture.
Sholay (1975)
Conceived as the biggest action-adventure film ever made in India, Ramesh Sippy’s deeply influential 1975 “Curry Western” remains a towering landmark in film history. Seeking revenge against a nihilistic dacoit bandit leader (Amjad Khan), a retired cop enlists the help of two slick, charismatic crooks whom he put behind bars (unforgettably portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra). Naturally, the criminal duo soon fall in love with two local village girls, but danger remains on the horizon. A delirious four-course meal of action, musical numbers, ultramagnetic performances from Indian cinema’s most iconic actors and jaw-dropping wide-screen cinematography, Sholay is here presented in its recently completed director’s cut, the most faithful approximation of Sippy’s original ending before it was censored by the Indian Censor Board.
