Over 1,500 Kannada films produced in the last 80 years will get a new lease of life as the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA) has decided to take up the ambitious task of restoring them. This is the first large-scale restoration effort undertaken by the Academy.
This is a vital project since the situation is so dire that the negatives of even the first Kannada talkie Sati Sulochana are not available. Presently, only photographs of Sati Sulochana and Bhakta Dhruva are available. Similar is the fate of classics by Vithalacharya, Kemparaja Urs, B.S. Ranga, Hunsur Krishnamurthy, R. Nagendra Rao and several others.
KCA will commence the process of preserving and restoring landmark Kannada films by making use of the financial assistance extended by Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) five years ago, besides the ₹2 crore earmarked by the Karnataka government in the budget. The estimated cost of the project is ₹6 crore. The BDA has released ₹1 crore.
“KCA has decided to form a four-member committee to pick Kannada classics and locate their negatives, besides identifying persons who owns them. KCA is also planning to hold a seminar on the preservation and restoration of films. We will invite Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of Film Heritage Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting conservation, preservation and restoration of movie images,” said S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, film director and Chairman of KCA.
KCA plans to restore the films in two phases — digitalisation for documentation in the first phase and restoring negatives in the second phase, as it requires huge funds.
“Talks are on with the stakeholders. A few renowned film laboratories have come forward to support the scheme. The Department of Information and Public Relations has to finalise the agency,” Mr. Babu said.
“Restoration is not the same as preservation. If we don’t preserve our films, there will be nothing to restore. But, when the films are stored properly, even the celluloid films can survive up to a hundred years,” he explained.
Currently, reels of scores of films are lying with producers, distributors and the State Film Archives in Badami House.
Film experts point out that the situation of film conservation across the country is poor. The country has produced over 1,500 silent films, of which only 15 are fully intact. Studies suggest that 80 per cent of the films don’t even exist any more, including the most celebrated one Alam Ara, according to Mr. Babu.
“A big and important chunk of the eight-decade history of Kannada cinema could get erased from memory if we fail to preserve negatives of old classics. Negatives of only 1,500 films of the nearly 4,500 films produced over the decades are now available, and many are in a bad shape,” he added.