69 yrs later, ‘Kalpana’ to make TV debut today

Kolkata: Uday Shankar’s “Kalpana”, which was embroiled in a long-drawn controversy over copyright, will finally be screened on national television—Lok Sabha Television channel—at 9pm on Saturday, 69 years after the renowned dancer directed the film.

In the dance ballet, “Kalpana”, Uday Shankar used a story-within-a-story format in Hindi to express his vision of a nation that would reach the future while being firm in its roots. Sulekha Jindal bought the film on February 2, 2002, along with the copyright. “Yet, Uday Shankar’s wife Amala Shankar filed a case over ownership of the film. After 12 long years, the case was dismissed in my favour on January 28, 2014. I am the absolute owner and copyright-holder of the film,” Jindal said.

Even after the order was passed in her favour, the controversy refused to die down with Jindal again getting locked horns with National Film Archive of India (NFAI). But now, all the bitter battles are now a thing of the past. “NFAI director Prakash Magdum visited Kolkata and met me. We have resolved our problems. My main objective was to show the film to the common man. I’m happy a subtitled version will be screened on Lok Sabha Television on March 11. It will be repeated on Sunday. The National Film Development Corporation is going to present the film,” said Jindal, who hailed from the family of producers associated with “Rajnigandha” and “Shatranj Ki Khiladi”.

Jindal is looking forward to releasing Kalpana’s DVDs. “We hold the right to the film’s negative in all formats and the satellite rights. No DVDs are available at present,” she said. “I will look into how the film links are still being uploaded on YouTube.”


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