Cinematographer Santhosh: Film fare. Picture by Aranya Sen

Bergman to Bertolucci, Kubrick to Kieslowski, Wajda to Wilder, Coppola to Cameron or Ridley Scott to Ray?

It may not be the Vidiots or Saturday Matinee in LA, but the closest the classics-crazy Calcutta cine buff has ever got. After conquering the South, Cinema Paradiso, the DVD lending parlour chain housing ?original titles? from Virgin Records, US, has now set up shop in Calcutta, at 33B, Rowland Road.

Not just classics... The brainchild of cinematographer Santhosh, a passionate collector of original DVDs by hobby, Cinema Paradiso promises to offer a ?never-before? flick-fest, ranging from world cinema to festival award winners, Oscars to legends, rare TV commercials to special interests and music videos.

?Kamal Haasan, (A.R.) Rahman and I used to exchange DVDs, before I started off my parlour with just 300 titles from a tiny place in Chennai?s Alwarpet in 2003 along with my partner Richard,? recalls the 32-year-old software engineer from Trichy.

Collecting DVDs went hand-in-hand with his camera cameos, first during a stint with Mani Ratnam?s cinematographer P.C. Shriram, and then with Hungarian lens ace Vilmos Zsigmond, who had worked with Spielberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ?I collaborated with Zsigmond in Rush Hour in Hollywood and then also worked in Playing by Heart, starring Sean Connery and directed by Willard Carrol,? says Santhosh, who is set to return with his camera to the Ratnam stable soon. Cinema Paradiso has remained a parallel passion, though.

The response to the world cinema, classics and special interests sections was ?overwhelming? and film people coming to Chennai from Hyderabad for post-production started borrowing from the lending library as well. Also, ?ad guys from Bangalore? started coming down to pick up the commercials.

The format had to grow in size, a tie-up with Virgin was sealed and Cinema Paradiso opened across 1,000-sq ft-plus footplates in both Hyderabad and Bangalore. ?Of course, I had to indulge my passion in Calcutta, hometown of my favourite director Ray, and also home to some of the country?s most informed cine-goers,? smiles Santhosh, who has seen all Ray films in an LA public library.

The Rowland Road DVD den, set to be ceremoniously launched this month-end by a national film personality, promises to pamper the Calcutta film fan with a rare montage of ?original titles not available otherwise?.

In the 3,000-strong catalogue at the lending parlour (soon to be beefed up to 5,000), are such celluloid gems like Citizen Kane and Amelie, Hotel Rwanda and The Motorcycle Diaries, Walter Salles? classic on Che Guevara and the spirit of the revolutionary. Besides, of course, the winners and entries at iconic festivals like Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Sundance.

?We also have the director series, featuring such legends like Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Akira Kurosawa, Brian de Palma, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Bunuel and our own Guru Dutt,? says Santhosh. There are also a host of original DVDs of documentaries, Hollywood blockbusters, popular English soaps, autobiographies, health & fitness, art & culture, children?s movies, and reference material.

The one-shot entry fee is pegged at Rs 3,000, of which 2,000 is refundable, with three-night borrowing fee ranging from Rs 50 to 100. A 10-seater screening room for members, a small caf?, a rooftop garden and a parking porch are the perks at Paradiso (www.cinemaparadisoshop.com), besides, of course, ?our guarantee of original DVDs through the Virgin alliance?, offers Santhosh.