NFAI's Jayakar Bungalow is now open for public!

Jayakar

Bunglow, one of the most iconic heritage of the city, was

inaugurated

on Sunday by Information and Broadcasting Minister,

Prakash Javedkar

. The

restored

bungalow is now house to a digital library which will give the researchers access to all database of the National Film Archive of India (

NFAI

). The project which was sanctioned in 2013 took over five years to finish- the work was completed in November 2018- and the restored structure had to wait for 10 more months for it's inauguration.

Minister Prakash Javedkar was really elated and impressed by the effort that NFAI has put in to restore this bungalow. "Jayakar

Bungalow

was considered to be one of the mostly beautiful bungalows in the city, but the time, its condition started deteriorating and that's when NFAI took the responsibility to restore it and I am extremely impressed with the work. I also invited the decendants of Mukundrao Ramrao Jayakar so that they can see the house of their grandfather and its new look," says Javedkar.

Jaykar Bungalow, classified as a grade I heritage structure by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was built in 1945 and was once home to Mukundrao Ramrao Jayakar, a barrister and the first vice-chancellor of the university of Pune. Later on, it was was handed over to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where it became the residence of institute's then principal Jagat Murari. Briefly, the building was also used as girls hostel before becoming the office of the NFAI in 1973.

One of the most interesting part of the bungalow is the creativity that's been displayed on the walls of the bungalow. Posters of various films has been used on the walls and according to NFAI director Prakash Magdum, the wall display is going to change every year. NFAI Director Prakash Magdum said that the facilities of the property will be provided to film lovers and researches at nominal fees. “We intend to continue the practice of charging Rs 10 for use of digital library resources and Rs 50 per slot to see films for research purpose,” said Magdum.

Prasanna Gokhale, the great-grand daughter of Barrister Jayakar was present on the occasion with her sons. She praised NFAI for undertaking the restoration work of the building with which her family's history is closely linked. “I hadn't visited the bungalow until last year when we came with some relatives who had come from US. My father, however, had spent some time in the bungalow. He would talk to us about the summer vacations that he had spent in the bungalow. NFAI has done a fabulous job with it,” said Gokhale. Barrister Jayakar was her father's maternal grandfather.