Pune: Photographs and other material from the personal collection of the family of renowned filmmaker G Aravindan was recently acquired by the National Film Archive of India (NFAI).
Ramu Aravindan, son of G Aravindan, donated the material to NFAI Director Prakash Magdum on the sidelines of the Bangalore International Film Festival.
It mostly consists of production stills -prints and transparencies from the films and documentaries of Aravindan, said his son.
“I am happy that the photographs and other materials concerning my father’s films will be preserved at NFAI. I compiled all such material from my family home in Kerala. There also a few leaflets and handouts about his films,” he said.
Aravindan is considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of India, who was instrumental in shaping the aesthetic core of Indian cinema. NFAI has restored nine of his films viz. Uttarayanam (1974), Kanchan Seeta (1977), Thampu (1978), Esthapan (1979), Kummaty (1979), Pokkuveyil (1981), Chidambaram (1985), Marattam (1988) and Vasthuhara (1990).
“During a retrospective of his films in Thiruvananthapuram two years back, I met Ramu Aravindan and his mother and requested them to kindly trace and find the film material. I am glad he did so and decided to hand it over to NFAI,” Magdum said