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