Celluloid custodian

This former NFAI director8217;s dogged pursuance in collecting and preserving films earned him 8216;the Henry Langlois of India8217; tag. Langlois, a Frenchman, was a pioneer in film preservation and restoration. On Thursday, Nair8217;s three-decade-long work it will earn him the Satyajit Ray Memorial Award. At the inaugural function of the 7th Third Eye Asian Film Festival, Nair will be honoured along with South Korean director Park Swang Su. This award was conferred on Aruna Vasudev last year and Prof Satish Bahadur in 2006.

Collecting film photographs and magazines was childhood hobby of Nair. But only after facing disillusionment while working in the Mumbai film industry that he took up archiving seriously. He moved to Pune in March 1961 to help build resources for the Film and Television Institute of India FTII. Four years later, he found himself collecting and restoring films for the newly-built NFAI. 8220;By then, nearly 70 per cent of the films made before 1950 were damaged or lost,8221; he recalls.

The NFAI started with only 124 films. By the time he retired in 1991, it has grown into a veritable treasure of 12,000 Indian as well as foreign films. Collecting these works, took him place like Chor Bazar, defunct studios and film laboratories abroad. Sometimes people were forthcoming like Dadasaheb Phalke8217;s family. They gave away remnants of seven of his films. 8220;Of them, only Kaliya Mardan was intact,8221; Nair says.

This avid collector is also credited for taking film appreciation courses beyond the boundaries of academic institutions. He held workshops at film societies across India. He also helped set up film circulation libraries, introducing film-buffs to the masters of world cinema.

Though a lot of attention is paid to the preservation of films now, Nair is not in favour the use of digital technology.

8220;The digital technologies should be used only for restoration. Celluloid works best when it comes to preservation,8221; he says.