Bhubaneswar: The National Film Heritage Mission’s (NFHM) ambitious restoration of rare Indian classic and historic films project has made good progress and is halfway through.
Conservation of as many as 65,000 film reels are at present underway while more than 64,000 reels have already undergone conservation.
The project that began in 2022 has helped in the revival of masterpieces including about a century old iconic movies including the silent era production Kaliya Mardan (1919) directed by Dadasaheb Phalke. The other notable productions are a biopic in Bengali Vidyapati (1937) directed by Debaki Bose, V Shantaram’s Agnikankankan (Marathi/ 1932), Mukti (Hindi/1937) directed by BC Barua and Sushil Majumdar’s Rikta (Bengali/ 1939).
The mission has already digitised more than 5,600 films including over 2,000 feature films. The process ensures that the films are preserved in high-definition formats with the addition of subtitles, the creation of Digital Cinema Packages and other deliverables formats.
After restoration the National Film Development Corporation of India-National Film Archive of India (NFDC-NFAI), an arm of the ministry executing the project, organises their screening. Besides events in the country, the restored films are shown in prestigious films festivals abroad such as Cannes, Venice, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Shanghai Film Festival and cultural Institutions such as the British Film Institute (BFI), German Film Museum, Swedish Film Institute, and Filmpodium Zurich.
This year, seven films including Kaliya Mardan of legendary filmmakers and artists have been selected to exhibit at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) starting November 20 in Goa. The list includes Raj Kapoor’s Awara (1951), Telugu romantic drama Devadasu (1953), Dev Anand-Nanda-Sadhana starrer Hum Dono (1961), Harmonium (1975) directed by Tapan Sinha, Superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s debut film Saat Hindustani (1969) directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Satyajit Ray’s Bengali social drama Seemabaddha (1971).
