Patna, June 6: For most of us movies mean a day out with family or friends and a visit to a cinema for a couple of hours’ entertainment. However, for a number of amateur aficionados, the art of moving pictures is serious business.

Cine Society, Patna — the amateur group — has been romancing films for nearly 63 years. Inspired by the Calcutta Film Society started by Satyajit Ray in 1947, the amateur group has been promoting non-commercial and classic cinema. The group, formed in 1948, is registered with the Federation of Film Societies of India, and regularly screens both Indian and international films for its members.

It was formed by a group of cinema enthusiasts who used to meet informally and exchange ideas about world cinema. The group included Devidas Chatterjee, a professor of English in Patna University, Vijaya Mulay, a homemaker, Arun Raychoudhary, a writer for Blitz magazine, and Justice B.N. Prasad.

The group soon realised that there was no culture of watching “serious” cinema in Patna and formed the group, initially called Patna Film Society, to promote meaningful films.

“Cinema used to be the topic of discussions in their group. They had similar interests and had gatherings at their houses. The best characteristic of the group was that each of them belonged to a different background. One of the members of the group, Vijaya Mulay, mother of National Award-winning actress Suhasini Mulay, was a homemaker but took active part in the discussions. People were very conservative then about women taking part in discussions with their male counterparts,” said Gautam Das Gupta, secretary, Cine Society, Patna.

Film shows, however, were not regular in the initial years.

“In the 1960s, the film society used to borrow reels of European cinema. These used to come from Calcutta in big cans. The members of the core committee contributed money for it,” said Das Gupta, adding that the tradition of borrowing German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese films from Calcutta and Pune continues till date.

The going has not always been easy for the society. The informal group closed down in 1952. But it was renewed in 1968, and finally registered in 1975.

R.N. Dash, then district magistrate of Patna, renewed it.

“One of the members of the society requested me to renew it. It was closed because of the sudden death of its secretary who also owned the projector and other equipment. So I bought the projector and set up the society under a new name,” said Dash, now the president of the society.

It has been screening about 30 to 50 movies every year. Films are selected based on themes or directors, and range from international classics to contemporary award winners.

The society also screens documentaries, short films, educational films and movies on the history of Indian cinema that are not shown in commercial cinemas.

The venue for screenings is Chhabi Griha at Lok Nayak Bhavan, a mini auditorium of the state department of information and public relations. Some of the films are also screened at the diagnostic centre of a doctor, who is a member of the society.

“The kind of ambience you get here is not to be found anywhere in Patna. Watching a movie becomes interesting because of the discussions on the various aspects of the film, like cinematography or music that follow the show. You will only find people here who want to learn something from cinema rather than taking it merely as an entertainment package,” said Dr Satrugan Kishore, 61, a paediatrician and a regular visitor to the shows.

Sujata Ojha, the principal of Bihar Vidyapeeth Swalambi High School and another regular at the shows, said: “I have been associated with the Cine Society for 10 years now. Every weekend this is my favourite place to watch classic movies.”