32 years on, restored 'Pakhira' returns to screen in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The pandemic brought back a film 32 years after it was made and had left the Central Board of Film Certification (

CBFC

) wondering how to classify it. '

Pakhira

', a 1990 film on thespian Badal Sircar, which was made by

Sivananda Mukherjee

,

Asim Chaudhuri

and Debashis Chakraborty, was revived after the first wave of the Covid pandemic. Ashoke Viswanathan's 'Badal Sircar and the Alternative Theatre', which will be screened at the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival on Tuesday, has not only used footage from 'Pakhira', the 45-minute restored film, which has archival footage of Sircar's performances along with his narration, will also be screened at Boi-Chitro Sabhaghar on Wednesday, followed by a discussion by

Sameek Bandopadhyay

and Viswanathan.

Describing 'Pakhira' as a masterpiece, Viswanathan said, "I wanted some live footage of Badal Sircar for my film. I had some from 'Theatre through the Ages'. The rest I used from 'Pakhira'. They have great archival value."

The CBFC had refused to classify 'Pakhira' as a documentary. Instead, it had categorized it under the 'other' slot. "When we asked why it didn't get a documentary tag, CBFC had said it didn't have interviews, paper cuttings and clippings," Chaudhuri remembered. The 16mm celluloid print of 'Pakhira' and the negatives had deteriorated with time for lack of proper preservation. "For three decades, we had been trying to restore the print. When most things had come to a standstill during the pandemic, we started the restoration of 'Pakhira'. Just after the first wave, we met theatre personality Debesh Chattopadhyay at Academy of Fine Arts who gave financial assistance for restoration," Chaudhuri said.

The 'Pakhira' directors now want to have a free screening of the film for the young generation. "Badal-da had shown a new path for free theatre practice that involved the use of inexpensive and flexible content. The idea is to start a discussion for and with the youth on this form. Badal-da passed away in 2011 but his legacy is continued by his followers," Mukherjee said.