NFAI to preserve Kerala film auteur’s archives

PUNE: The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) will preserve late

Malayalam

filmmaker G Aravindan’s personal collection, which includes production stills, leaflets, and other non-film material from his feature films and documentaries.


The material was handed over to NFAI director Prakash Magdum by Aravindan’s son, Ramu, on the sidelines of Bangalore International Film Festival, which ended on Thursday.

The NFAI will preserve the collection as part of its non-film material inventory — production stills, posters, song lyric books, leaflets — a lot of which is being restored as part of the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM).

“We had been in touch with Aravindan’s family members, including his wife and son Ramu, for a long time. Since Ramu lives in Bangalore, we arranged the handing over of the collection there itself,” Magdum told TOI.

Aravindan’s career in filmmaking was relatively short.

He died before the release of his tenth and last feature film Vasthuhara at the age of 56 in 1991.

“We have already preserved a number of his films and restored them in our archives, including Chidambaram,

Uttarayanam

, and Vasthuhara, as well as six other films, including the Ramayana adaptation Kanchana Seetha,” he said.