This is an archive article published on June 24, 2023
Premium
NFAI to screen Kalpana today
The screening, which will commence at 6.30 pm, is open to all on a first-come-first- served basis.
The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) — for which NFAI has been a co-organiser since its inception — also did not screen any films at the film archive earlier this year in its 21st edition. (Express Photo)
Written by:Advait Iyer
2 min readPuneJun 24, 2023 06:57 AM IST
First published on: Jun 24, 2023 at 06:57 AM IST
The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) will screen the restored classic ‘Kalpana’ (1948) — directed by dancer Uday Shankar — at its Law College Road premises in Pune on Saturday. The screening, which will commence at 6.30 pm, is open to all on a first-come-first- served basis.
Since the Union government’s decision to merge the film archive with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) came into effect from January this year, film screenings for the general public had almost come to a halt. The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) — for which NFAI has been a co-organiser since its inception — also did not screen any films at the film archive earlier this year in its 21st edition.
Advertisement
‘Kalpana’, starring Uday Shankar and his wife Amala, is about a young dancer’s dream of setting up a dance academy. The film is inspired from Shankar’s own life and the academy he founded — named Almora. Although a pioneering film in the way it features dance performances, and helped take Indian classical dance to the world, the film saw very limited distribution in India. Shankar did not make another film after that.
Jasbir Singh Baidwan, manager of NFDC-NFAI, said the screening is part of the annual schedule of the archive’s film circle, but the administration decided to open it for the public. “We have about a hundred members in our film circle. The screening was organised for them. But since we have a capacity to seat 330 viewers, we decided to open the screening for the public,” said Baidwan, adding that more public screenings are in the pipeline.
“We have planned a few events for the general public in days to come. We will announce the schedule once the plans are ready,” said Baidwan.
The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) — for which NFAI has been a co-organiser since its inception — also did not screen any films at the film archive earlier this year in its 21st edition. (Express Photo) 
Share
