National Film Archive of India receives collection of films by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar
The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) on Tuesday said it has received a huge collection of movies of filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar, which includes feature films and shorts like "Dahavi Fa", "Badha" and "Zid". According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the collection of their films was handed over by Sunil Sukthankar and Chinmay Damle to Prakash Magdum, director, NFAI.
The filmmaker duo has significantly contributed to Marathi cinema with many noted short films, documentaries, TV shows and feature films like "Kaasav", "Doghi", "Devrai", "Astu" among others. Bhave passed away last year aged 78. Her first short film "Bai" is also part of the collection.
"The collection received today consists of 35mm prints of feature films 'Dahavi Fa' (2002), 'Badha' (2006), 'Ha Bharat Majha' (2012) and short film 'Zid' (2004), 16mm prints of feature film 'Zindagi Zindabad' (1997) and short films 'Bai' (1985), 'Paani' (1987) and 'Laha' (1994).
"A 16 mm film 'Kishan ka Udan Khatola' made by another veteran filmmaker and film society activist Vijaya Mulay is also part of the collection," the note read.
According to the release, a major chunk of the collection features cassettes of films, in different "magnetic media formats like DigiBeta, Betacam, Umatic, DLT Tapes, DV, MiniDV, and VHS formats.
The titles include duration wise six various versions of the short film "Karta" a film based on the life of renowned industrialist Shantanurao Kirloskar, feature films "Zindagi Zindabad", "Devrai", "Ek Cup Chya" and "Mor Dekhne Jungle Mein", short films "Mukti", "Chakori", "Laha", "Zid", "Bewaqt Barish", "Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein", "Ekalavya", "Samvad" and "Sarashi".
The collection also features documentaries like "Parting with Pride", "Gautam Chya Aaichi Shala" and "Pilgrims of light" and TV show episodes of "Katha Sarita", "Akherachi Ratra" and "Bhais Barabar", among other titles.
Sukthankar said NFAI has been an integral part of the duos' filmmaking journey. "I am glad that these films would now be preserved at its facility. I hope the material would be digitised so that it can be accessible to the new generation," the filmmaker said.
Magdum said he is thrilled that the major collection of the duo would now be preserved at NFAI. "I had discussed this with Smt Bhave last year but unfortunately, she passed away. Their filmography, covering many important subjects of the society, is a valuable social documentation of the era. I am sure that this will be a valuable source of learning for students, researchers and budding filmmakers," Magdum added.
He further appealed to filmmakers and production houses to deposit celluloid films at NFAI.
Earlier in 2014-15, the filmmaker duo had deposited 35mm prints of some of their films and in 2018, on Bhave’s 75th birthday, she had donated original handwritten screenplays of ten of her films to NFAI.
