NFAI acquires 23 films, including Marathi works

Pune: The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has acquired 89 celluloid reels of both 16mm and 35mm films, mostly Marathi and some Hindi movies, including ones that were thought to have been lost for good.All of them are monochrome films and released between 50s and 70s. The flagship films received by NFAI are Tai Teleen (1953), and Pavankathacha Dhondi (1966), both of whose original reels were assumed to have been lost from the public domain. Tai Teleen is a historical film directed by KP Bhave, while doyens of Marathi cinema such as Shanta Apte and Zunzarrao Pawar starred in Anto Narhari.Pavankathacha Dhondi, directed by Anant Thakur, was produced, scored, and acted in by legends of the Marathi film industry, with Thakur, a filmmaker of repute, having worked with Raj Kapoor in the film Chori Chori. While the film was produced by Usha Mangeshkar, the music was composed by her brother Hridaynath, with Jayashree Gadkar and brothers Chandrakant and Suryakant in lead roles.Another highlight of the collection is a Ram Gabale film Dev Pavala (1950). The film starring Damuanna Malavankar and Vishnupant Jog was shot at Prabhat Studio in Pune. “We have to always be on the lookout for such films. These two films, for example, were considered lost. I met Ushaji a few years back and she alerted me about the film’s existence. Now, we have received the film,” said Prakash Magdum, NFAI director.Other titles gathered by NFAI include Shakti Samanta’s black and white film Naughty Boy, starring Kishore Kumar.