A film offer you can’t turn down

PUNE: Although it is the country’s treasure trove of films, few people know that the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) offers film-viewing facilities (video and celluloid) at rock-bottom prices.
The VHS titles can be watched at a nominal rate of Rs 30 per hour in special video viewing rooms, while the 16 mm and 35 mm celluloid films can be watched at Rs 80 (plus service charges) per hour on Steenbeck viewing machines.
“The main objective of the NFAI is to acquire and preserve films and make film material available exclusively for researchers and people interested in films for documentation and dissemination of film culture in the country,� said NFAI director L.K. Upadhyaya.
The archive houses nearly 2,000 titles in video format and some 14,000 in celluloid format. It has around seven Steenbecks and five video players. A 30-seat preview theatre can also be hired for Rs 500 per hour, while the rent for its well-appointed 330-seat auditorium is Rs 1,000 per hour. Young film-making sensation Vishal Bhandari is a big one for the facility.
“The projection, ambience and light facilities are fairly good compared to the charges. In fact, the NFAI could make good money if they rented it on commercial scale,� he opined. No prizes for guessing where he screened his Maya:The Reality which won an award at the New York festival.
A quick flip through the list of films available for screening at NFAI reads like a film connoisseurs’ dream sequence: From Dadasaheb Phalke’s pioneering wonders to Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghataks classic, Indian ‘cinemagic’ intermingles with the works of Jean Luc Godard, Bergman, Fritz Lang and Roberto Rosselini.
“We do not give the old nitrate-based films for viewing. However,we have transferred them onto celluloid (safetybase),� NFA deputy director K.S. Sasidharan said.
Over the past few years, the NFAI has also started collecting film titles in CD and DVD format. In 2000-01, the NFAI acquired 259 film titles. And during 2001-02, it acquired 144 film titles.
Established in 1964, NFAI today has the largest film collection in Asia. Add to that the screening facilities, and you have an environment which is capable of powering the future of Indian cinema.