Bengali classics set for rebirth

KOLKATA: A 100 black-and-white classics, including at least 15 Bengali films that have enthralled generations over the last 70 years, will be restored for the big screen.
Several gems by Tapan Sinha and 1950’s hits like ‘Harano Sur’ could be among the films to be restored by the Film Hertiage Foundation and the Martin Scorcese Foundation. The latter has so far restored more than 600 films from around the world and has a collaboration with the Mumbai-based Heritage Foundation.An effort to start the restoration job will be initiated at the Kolkata International Film Festival, where eminent film conservationist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur will deliver a lecture.
Other than the Ray classics, Ritwik Ghatak’s films and those by Mrinal Sen, there are a large number of important Bengali films that have been rendered unfit for screening, according to Dungarpur. “These include several Tapan Sinha films whose original prints are lost. The majority of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s films, too, are just memories now and can’t be viewed on 35mm. With digital technology at our disposal, it is possible to restore them for big screen projection. Other than the technical experts that we have, we need to collaborate with the government, private firms and the Bengali film industry. The work has to begin soon for it will be a tedious and difficult process that could take years to complete,” said Dungarpur.
The list of 100 films is being drawn up by film conservationist P K Nair and filmmaker Shyam Benegal. Once the list is ready, the Heritage Foundation could start working on some of them with the Scorcese Foundation’s support. The latter has restored Bengali classics like ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, ‘Titash Ekti Nadir Naam’ and Uday Shankar’s ‘Kalpana’. Hindi classics like ‘Acchyut Kanya”, “Devdas’ and Sohrab Modi films are also on the list.
“While the Ray and Ghatak films have been taken care of, there is this wide body of films that lie neglected. These include mainstream films that are still popular. They ought to be respected and preserved for they are a part of our film history. But to do the job, we need more local technicians, experts and researchers. This is what I am going to stress on in my lecture at the Kolkata festival,” he said.
As a first step towards the long-term goal of creating an indigenous resource of archivists, conservations and restoration experts, a workshop will be held in Mumbai in February. Supported by the Scorcese Foundation, it will have a series of lectures by experts from around the world, film conservationists, technical experts and filmmakers. A team of 16 restorers from the Bologna Cineteca Institute in Italy will conduct hands-on training sessions. Chief of conservation at the British Film Institute Kieron Webb will also deliver a lecture at the workshop.