Tags:
Journalism of Courage
P K Nair gets Satyajit Ray Memorial Award for archiving cinematic gems
In the Sixties, P K Nair made a trip to Kolhapur to meet a grocery shop owner. The latter had prints of Baburao Painter8217;s films made in the 1920s. These films of the silent era are a significant part of India8217;s cinematic heritage and were untraceable for years. Nair failed to convince the shop owner, who was asking for a hefty price, to hand over the black-and-white reels. However, some years later the shop owner8217;s son, impressed by Nair8217;s zeal to preserve cinematic works, handed over Painter8217;s films to the National Film Archive of India NFAI for free.
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.
