Let's hope, it brings desired results.

Jaya Bachchan sets up a cell for restoration of film heritage


http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.ph ... nt_id=7633

Jaya Bachchan sets up a cell for restoration of film heritage

Bhawana Somaaya


Time and again, old guards and cinema buffs have mourned the pathetic state of our classics in film laboratories. Time and again, angry articles on the urgent need for restoration of old prints have been written in the media. The same is true of films preserved in the film archives in Pune but for some reason, after a few passionate debates in print and on TV channels, nothing comes out of all the hullabaloo. The caretakers blame it on the organisations. The organisations blame it on the state. And the state on the ministry. Meanwhile, more dust gathers on the piles of rubble.

Ask any student/filmmaker, Indian or foreigner, investigating the history of Indian cinema and they will tell you horror stories about looking for footage of the most predictable classics, like Alam Ara (1931) or Raja Harishchandra (1913). There are no signs of India’s first talkie film and of course, no respect for Dadasaheb Phalke’s first feature film. It’s not only pre-Independence films that are seemingly extinct. Not just films of the ’40s (Dillagi) and ’50s (Halaku), there is scant respect for films released in the late ’50s (Sohni Mahiwal and Sone Ki Chidiya).

A week ago, the Bombay Film Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., now known as Raheja Princess Apartments Ltd., issued a notice in a few trade weeklies stating that persons claiming right to any of the films listed (apparently 170 from the black-and-white era) were hereby notified that if they failed to take delivery of the negatives owned by them within seven days, the films would be disposed off as hazardous waste at the disposal facilities at Taloja of the Mumbai Waste Management Ltd. thereafter.

Deeply upset by the insensitivity and lack of responsibility shown by the organisation, Jaya Bachchan, FTII graduate, ex-chairperson of CFSI and actor of path-breaking films like Koshish, Parichay and Hazar Chaurasi Ki Maa, has taken up the cause of preserving Indian film heritage.

Pleading with cinema buffs and enrolling motivated film critics in the cause, she has set up a voluntary cell that will fight against the decay and neglect existing in current archives. Bachchan who was appointed the Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Corporation with a cabinet rank in October last year, with the help of the UP Government and dedicated institutions like IIFA, hopes to create an awareness on the importance of restoration and preservation of the city’s grand film heritage. It may be remembered that last year, she was the moving force behind the three-day Wisdom Tree Film Festival held in Pune, and it’s thanks to her grit and determination, that Graftii (graduates of FTII) were able to set astounding goals for their premier alma mater.

Besides confirming some leading names in the media, Bachchan has roped in PK Nair, ex-director of FTII, as a consultant in her new venture.

KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM..ha ha! Jenny!

I hope she does not do a la SHEMAROO restoration..???

Give the reels to me, I'll donate them to BEI

Pssst! He knows that, thats why he said it!:P Hahahaha! man I'm getting stitches

I have something better to do with those freezing DEI junk, DONATE it
Back to BEI LoL???? ha ha!! He got u!! I was expecting this!!

CHARITY starts from hOME! comes back where it began!

Damn, that is depressing. Not surprising, though. Unfortunately I doubt that many prints of these films went outside India. It's not like with American silents where footage has been found in various countries.



Why don't they donate them to the National Film Archives of India in Pune or FTII? Will it benefit them to discard these films?

or just donate to zulm, or to rana!! we can rent a theater for $50 and watch it?

Pssst! Dragun see my suggestion below


Every dollar that goes to Eros, Yash Raj, Video Sound, WEG, SKY, Samrat, Pyramid, or Baba is a vote for incompetence, greed, and cheapness. Every dollar that goes to BEI is for charity! You Like?

I guess, " taking delivery " means, paying the accumlated storage fee??

Rana