Filmmaker And Archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur On Restoring 'Pakeezah': ‘Film Preservation Is Part Of India’s Cultural Heritage’
· Free Press Journal
A FTII student, after about 1500 advertisement films and a few award-winning documentary films, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur was about to make his first feature film. It was supposed to be AR Rehman’s debut in Hindi films. However, it took a backseat for some reason.
Destiny had other things in mind for Singh.
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Singh went on to produce and direct a 26-episode series, Rahe Na Rahe Hum, anchored by Javed Akhtar based on nostalgia. This was third tryst with nostalgia after his documentaries The Celluloid Man and The Immortals. Then came the turning point. The Film Foundation and Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation were in search of Uday Shankar’s Kalpana, the 1948 Indian Dance film. The available negatives were quite deteriorated. PK Nair, Singh’s mentor, who was in charge of National Film Archives at that time, helped. “I was at the peak of my career when I met Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. They were looking for Uday Shankar’s Kalpana. I came back to India and went looking for it, met PK Nair, who was very influential figure when I was a student at FTII. He was the head of the National Film Archive. He helped me find the film, understand the process and restore it.”
That was the beginning of Singh’s love affair with old films, restoration and teaching India how to restore and preserve. “My journey actually began when Shyam Benegal spoke to me about some material he wanted when he was making a film on Nehru,” Singh remembers. “All footage of India’s freedom movement, the Dandi March, etc. were lying in dire state. That was another trigger as was when BNHS showed me a trunk of Dr Salim Ali’s work; films which he shot in the 1940s on his 16 MM on the study of birds. But I guess, making of The Celluloid Man was the biggest trigger.”
Triggers were many, goal one —to restore the cultural and film heritage of India. Singh realised that it was his calling. But it was not till 2014 that he formalized his efforts and established the Film Heritage Foundation. “Films were looked down upon. It was looked at as entertainment and never looked as a cultural heritage,” shares Singh. “And I wanted to give them the recognition as a cultural heritage of India; same social standing. We took up preservation as an important part of our heritage, cultural heritage and film preservation.”
Singh soon discovered that it was easier said than done because not many were aware of how to preserve or restore. Singh learnt from the best in the country PK Nair and learnt more from international restorers. He brought international techniques to India and till date conducts many workshops every year in all corners of the country.
“We have done workshops all over India. Our next big workshop is in Assam. Last year was in Odisha, where we are going to work with the Odissa government to set up an archive. We are also going to work with the Manipur government to set up an archive. So, we have started training people up, finding and building infrastructure. And I think that has been the most important element of Film Heritage Foundation is giving an infrastructure to the concept of film preservation, finding job opportunities.”
It was just not pockets of India and state institutions; Singh went back to where it all started. The National Film Archives, Pune. “They are the largest archives in India and an government organization. It was important to update them and train them. So, we went there in 2016 to train the technicians there.”
While Kalpana and The Celluloid Man remain to be triggers for the career move, Singh attributes his fascination for cinema to his grandmother Maharani Usharani. “I remember seeing many Hindi and English films with her including Pakeezah, which I have recently restored.”
Singh’s contribution to the Indian cinema doesn’t stop at preserving and restoring films. His foundation has also published books that document the rich film and cultural heritage of India.
Film Heritage Foundation has been having screenings of classics — Indian and international — at Regal Cinema, Mumbai every Friday since quite a long time. And these screenings are free. “It is a delight to see people throng in queues for these screenings. Actors, common people everyone,” says Singh. “Once, there was a Zomato fellow came to my wife and offered ₹1000, and we were bit surprised. Because he’s wearing a Zomato dress. He said — ‘I just want to thank you for all what you’re doing. This has changed my life. Here, I’m watching all the classics thanks to you. I deliver food in this area, and it’s just given me the opportunity to watch these films for free.’ Then there is a taxi driver who doesn’t understand the languages of most films, but still watches these films because — ‘I can understand the emotions on the screen. That’s the reason I come here every week.’ These are the best compliments I have got.”
Singh believes that films transcend all language barriers. It is this belief and his love for cinema that coerces him to restore and preserve classics in all Indian languages.
Pakeezah is being screened today at the London Film Festival. And when Shivendra Singh Dungarpur comes back, he dives deep into restoring more films and setting up the center for preserved films, and music, and an audio-visual museum for Indian films, documentaries, and ad films.
The celluloid man never rests.