Pune: The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has acquired 162 new films. The latest additions include 44 black and white films, 34 Gujarati, 15 Marathi, six Bhojpuri and 15 unreleased films. 

Hindi films Faslah (1976) and Amarsingh Rathore (1957), Nepali film Maiti Ghar (1966) by BS Thapa, starring Mala Sinha and featuring music by Jaidev and Marathi film Aalay Toofan Daryala (1973) by Jaywant Pathare are some of the new additions. The collection came from Famous Cine Laboratory in Mumbai, which also handed over the original negatives of ‘Mahatma’, which is six-hour documentary footage of Mahatma Gandhi by Vithalbhai Jhaveri.

Director of NFAI Prakash Magdum said, “This is one of the most important acquisitions as a large number of films came in dupe negative format. No amount has been paid as the lab came forward to hand over the films to keep them safe.” The collection also includes Kon Ichikawa’s film, Tokyo Olympiad (1965), which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

NFAI director dismissive of missing films
When asked about the recent 9,200 missing film prints, Magdum said, “No prints are missing. We have multiple copies of films. They may be damaged and we are checking the condition of each film and restoring it with the help of Italy-based L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory.”

A Radio Frequency Identification tag will also be put to track films at a click. He said archiving films is a serious and continuous activity. “We are trying to put in place a system and this is a transition phase. The government is supporting us and this is an opportunity for all of us to achieve the best standard practices,” he added.