Window to past: Rare films from colonial India digitised
A film with ‘Calcutta’ in the title but shot in Varanasi, an early documentary by Bimal Roy, and amateur footage of Mahatma Gandhi’s march after the Noakhali riots are among rare films digitised and released online by British Film Institute (BFI) for the UK-India Year of Culture.
Produced and presented in partnership with the British Council, the archive includes the earliest known surviving film of India from 1899, ‘Panorama of Calcutta’.
Although the film’s title states ‘Calcutta’, the footage shows the ‘ghats’ of Varanasi.
Robin Baker, BFI head curator, said, “Cumulatively, these films offer an extraordinary social and political story of Indian history, seen through the eyes of the film-makers, and putting flesh on the bones of book facts
THE FILMS AND FOOTAGE HAVE BEEN DONATED TO BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE FROM MANY SOURCES COMPRISING MOVIES, TRAVELOGUES AND NEWSREELS
with real people and very tangible places. The potency of the films is remarkable and undeniable. They are as close as any of us are going to get to time travel.”
The films and footage have been donated to the BFI National Archive from a variety of sources comprising travelogues, newsreels, educational films, ethnographic documentaries, missionary films and a wealth of home movies, many of which have never been seen before.
One of the films recently unearthed and made available on BFI’s youtube channel is ‘Indian Durbar’ (1940), a travelogue shot in Alwar by Oscar-winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff in technicolor.
Also released is ‘The poetic Tins for India’ (1941), an early documentary by acclaimed filmdirector Bimal Roy.
Unseen for decades, it reveals Roy’s expertise and is considered an early indicator of the humanistic concerns that would become evident in his later work.
Prakash Magdum, director of the National Film Archive of India, said, “These films are like a kaleidoscope of life in pre-Independence India, shedding light on day-to-day life as well as ‘exotic’ aspects of Indian society. They also take us back to the time when the freedom struggle movement gained momentum. Be it dance, sports, bazaar, royal weddings, cuisine, festivities, this is a wonderful glimpse into the Indian ways of life.”