Restored Jayakar bungalow at NFAI inaugurated

PUNE: The newly restored Jayakar bungalow on the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) premises was inaugurated by Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar here on Sunday. 

The bungalow will house a digital film library where researchers can access the rich film database of the archive. Personalised viewing spaces for watching a film from the NFAI collection will be available at the bungalow. 

“Jayakar bungalow has a special place in the art and architecture of Pune and now after restoration, it is being put in use for benefit of film researchers. While the bungalow’s condition had deteriorated, after efforts over two years, the NFAI managed to restore it. Film lovers can access NFAI’s digitised film material and watch films at the preview rooms here,” Javadekar told the media on the occasion. 

“Such small premises are important from a tourism perspective as they will attract many film lovers,” he added. 

He complimented the NFAI team and the conservation team for the efforts taken to restore the bungalow. 

“We wanted to restore the unique architecture and aesthetic value to bring back glory of the olden times. The objective was to conserve the heritage structure and make it contemporary so that it can be accessible for citizens and film lovers. The digital library and personalised viewing spaces were steps in this direction,” said NFAI Director Prakash Magdum. 

He added that the cost of accessing the digitised library would remain the same as before. “The per slot charges for access to preview rooms would be Rs 50,” he said. 

Prasanna Gokhale, great-granddaughter of Barrister Jayakar, who was present for the event with her sons said, “I hadn’t visited the bungalow until last year when we paid a visit with some relatives who had come from the US. My father would often talk to us about the summer vacations that he spent in the bungalow. The NFAI has done a fabulous job with the restoration.” 

Barrister Jayakar was her father’s maternal grandfather.

PUNE’S PRIDE
A Grade I heritage structure, the bungalow was built in the 1940s by Barrister MR Jayakar, a renowned national leader, member of the Constituent Assembly and first Vice-Chancellor of the erstwhile University of Pune. Over the years, ownership of the bungalow changed hands from Br Jayakar to Indian Law Society to FTII and then to NFAI. The bungalow, built in Tudor style of architecture found in Great Britain, is one of it’s kind in Pune.