Films that immortalised Paranjpe to be digitised

Raja Paranjpe Pratishthan is digitising close to 80 Marathi and Hindi the ace actor,director and producer was involved in suring his career that spanned four decades. The project is in the initial stages and was conceptualised by the Pratishthan as a way to conserve Raja Paranjpe’s work for posterity. With a budget of Rs 12-15 lakh per film,the organisation plans to hold events,collections from which would be treated as funds for the restoration.

The first in the series is an audio-visual drama,Ek Hota Raja,at Shaniwarwada on October 11 from 6.30 pm. The show will have live orchestra with songs from Raja Paranjape movies and rare scenes from his films. Archana Rane,president of the Raja Paranjpe Pratishthan,said,“We are trying to get all the films digitised frame by frame. Once they are digitised and restored,we might release DVD prints for the public.” The films will be sourced by the National Film Archives of India for restoration. “We will get the films from NFAI and take their help in other matters related to the project as they are equipped to handle this,” adds Rane.

The NFAI is,however,yet to hear from the Pratishthan. NFAI director Prashant Pathrabe said,“ We welcome the Pratishthan idea. We would help the project in every way. We have not been officially contacted yet.”

The Pratishthan,which also conducts the Raja Paranjpe Film Festival from April 14 to April 20 every year to showcase films of national and international repute from Paranjpe’s era will organise a short film festival as a fundraiser this year. The festival will be an annual event to celebrate the digital film culture with emphasis on first-time filmmakers and digital filmmaking. This will also serve as yet another fundraiser for the restoration project. This year the event will be held from October 20-22. The organisation has already received 50 short films. This will be followed by a three-day workshop on script-writing,direction and cinematography. Directors Rajdutt,Sanjay Surkar and actor Smita Talwalkar will attend the event.