Over the next two days of the festival, I learnt more about the dynamic team of film historians, researchers, writers, film students that put their best foot forward to create a reliable digital, freely accessible encyclopedia of all languages of Indian cinema.

Supported by Kyari, Kashmir’s Yumberzal Research Institute that believes that academic research paves the way for deliberations and this was apparent in the topics chosen for the two-day festival.

There were sessions on cinema books, on pulp fiction,on making movies and on the heritage of Kashmir. A session on Kishore Kumar and also the Prime Minister. Film criticism, film documentation and film romance were discussed with expert panelists and in between was bonding over luncheons and group pictures before departures.

Kumaon Literary Festival initiated in the year 2014 is a traveling festival founded by lawyer, author and cultural champion Sumant Batra. The best thing about the festival is that it is not restricted to literature and encompasses a number of projects and activities that include nature, wildlife, women, cinema and more.

Managed by Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, what is interesting about the group is their personal touch at the literary festival that makes all the guests feel wanted and their love for cinema. For a long time, they have been working on aspirational projects like Cinemaazi, the Museum of Indian Cinema, Radiomaazi that is the Museum of South Asia Broadcasting Heritage, Museum of Typewriters, The story of typewriters in India. Chitrashala, the Museum of Vintage Calendar Art and finally, Café Flashback.

In a way the guests lived up to the aspirations because when we were chatting at the breakfast nobody wanted to leave the table

To coincide with the Bachchan film festival, an exhibition of rare Amitabh Bachchan memorabilia is set up at PVR Juhu, Mumbai which is in keeping with the message of

Film Heritage Foundation, dedicated to the preservation, restoration, documentation and exhibition of India’s film heritage. The exhibition chronicles Bachchan’s early days, struggle, success and superstardom in images, paintings and props. The memorabilia include vintage posters, commissioned artworks, photographs, LP jackets, magazine covers, a giant 7 feet standee and the original Shahenshah costume. Meticulously curated by film historian, author and archivist S M Ausaja.

 In 2021, Film Heritage Foundation was instrumental in getting Amitabh Bachchan honoured with the prestigious International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Award at the hands of iconic filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan and in 2022 FHF has set a trend in restoring classics. It is difficult to believe that the dream began just a few years ago, in the year 2014 and has since then been devoted to the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the moving image and to create awareness about the language of cinema. Film Heritage Foundation is the only non-governmental organization in the country working in the field of film preservation and in 2015 became a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF).

Dungarpur emphasizes that while FHF’s core programmes include the preservation and archiving of films and film-related memorabilia, they take pride in training in film preservation and restoration, in organizing workshops for children and training the young generation in digitization and restoration. “We are also collecting oral history projects and publications and our proud to have eminent artistes on our board like Shyam Benegal, Kamal Haasan, Girish Kasaravalli, Gulzar, Gian Luca Farinelli, Jaya Bachchan, Krzysztof Zanussi, Mark Cousins, and Kumar Shahani. Amitabh Bachchan is our cause ambassador and we are now proud owners of legendary Indian filmmaker Aravindan Govindan’s Malayalam classics as well. In association with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, Arvindam’s Thamp was selected for a red-carpet world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2022.” 

Concluded

Shivendra Singh Dungurpur graduated from FTII turned filmmaker, met Jaya Bachchan and she inspired him to start archiving films. She introduced him to Amitabh Bachchan and entrusted his film library to Dungarpur’s newly launched Film Heritage Foundation and slowly more filmmakers, authors, historians joined the bandwagon and today Film Heritage Foundation is an institution film industry and India are proud of.

Dungarpur says that the idea to host a Bachchan Retrospective happened out of the blue, when somebody from Finland called him and asked him for old movies of Bachchan. They said they were celebrating his 80^th birthday. “I felt ashamed that while other countries had a plan for our superstar‘s milestone birthday we were twiddling our thumbs. So, I called a quick meeting with the team and collectively we got cracking. I met up with the PVR chief and the rest is history. I believe that when you set out to do something special the entire cosmos collaborated to make the dream into reality. I am proud that the Film Heritage Foundation is paying tribute to Amitabh Bachchan and I am sure this is just the beginning.  I want to do many more such festivals with many superstars and bring our cinematic heritage back to where it belongs, theatres!!”.

To be continued…

There was loud cheering, applauding all through the shows and when Bachchan dances to popular hits like “Khaike paan banaras waala…” and “Main hoon Don…”  the audience rushed towards the screen and danced with him. The idea was to celebrate Amitabh Bachchan and therefore PVR cinema halls all over India made available a season Movie Pass @ INR 400 that can be purchased online through the PVR App and Web and can be redeemed across all days in any of the 22 cinemas wherever Bachchan movies were showing.  Quite frankly they were not sure if the audience was in a mood for nostalgia but a chance had to be taken.

The bookings opened via PVR website and PVR Mobile App. on Saturday and within days the shows were house-full. Issse kehte hain Shahenshah and superstardom! The excitement was overwhelming and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation has not stopped smiling ever since. He confesses that he grew up on Amitabh Bachchan films and remains a fan of the Actor after all these years. “I used to break bounds when I was in school to watch his films and was often thrown out of class in college for sitting on the back bench scribbling reviews of films I had watched. I had no idea then that I would one day be part of the motion pictures”.

To be continued…

To mark the momentous occasion of the 80^th birthday of the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, Film Heritage Foundation celebrates a unique film festival titled Bachchan: Back to The Beginning in partnership with PVR Cinemas. The festival celebrates an icon through his landmark early films. The magic began on 08 October 2022 across 19 cities in India, covering 180 shows and 30 screens across 22 cinema halls all over India.

The not-for-profit organization founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is the man behind this wonderful idea.  Dungarpur and his team have meticulously curated a bespoke collection of 11 Bachchan blockbuster films that makes him the icon he is today.

More than 50 years have gone by but the magic sustains and when these classics unfolded in digital formats in the multiplexes, the old and the young audience Audiences across cities went berserk. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Raipur, Kanpur, Kolhapur, Prayagraj and Indore were privileged to experience the magic of the celluloid again. Spread over four days Amitabh Bachchan’s carefully chosen films –Don, Kaala Patthar, Kaalia, Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan, Deewar, Mili, Satte Pe Satta and Chupke Chupke showcased in different cities on different days and time but the feedback was identical from all the cinema halls.

To be continued…

And finally, the book signing, all those who did not get an opportunity to ask a question have a question to ask and the signing of copies takes longer than it should. This is a time reserved for autographs and photographs, individual pictures, pictures in combinations and also in groups.  Finally, time for dinner with the organizers and an early flight back home the next  

morning.

Concluded.

Prabha Khaitan Foundation has a unique way of doing book events. They follow strict guidelines with regards to the number of guests invited, the duration of the event and also regarding the images and the videos taken at the event. A newspaper is attached to the city and all images published only in that newspaper.

It is actually quite refreshing to visit such an exclusive gathering where elegant women dressed in textile saris attend the event and intelligently talk on books and other topics. It is a far cry from other media events where paparazzi rules the game.  

To be continued…