Pune, Mar 1 (IANS): The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) was on Tuesday gifted a large collection of films made by the National Award winner duo, the late Sumita Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar, a top official said here.
Sukhthankar, along with Chinmay Damle, handed over the huge legacy of their films to NFAI Director Prakash Magdum.
The critically-acclaimed filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave, who passed away in April 2021, and Sunil Sukthankar have made a large number of films over the years that have won multiple awards and recognition both in India and abroad.
They significantly contributed to Marathi cinema with many noted short films, documentaries, TV shows and feature films, in the 16-mm and 35-mm formats.
Starting with Bhave's first short film 'Bai' (1985) or recent ones 'Kaasav' (2017) and 'Dithee' (2019), almost each and every film by the Bhave-Sukhthankar duo bagged numerous national and international awards or accolades.
Their prime filmography includes short films like 'Paani' (1987), 'Mukti' (1990), 'Chakori' (1992), 'Laha' (1994) and highly admired films like 'Doghi' (1995), 'Vastupurush' (2002), 'Devrai' (2004) and 'Astu' (2016).
The collection that NFAI received consists of 35-mm prints of feature films 'Dahavi Fa' (2002), 'Badha' (2006), 'Ha Bharat Majha' (2012) and short film 'Zid' (2004), 16-mm prints of feature film 'Zindagi Zindabad' (1997) and various short films.
The major chunk of the collection feature cassettes of films, in different magnetic media formats like DigiBeta, Betacam, Umatic, DLT Tapes, DV, MiniDV, and VHS formats.
Among the titles are a short film 'Karta' - based on the life of renowned industrialist S. L. Kirloskar, who founded the engineering conglomerate Kirloskar Group, Pune.
Other films include: 'Ek Cup Chya' (2009), and 'Mor Dekhne Jungle Mein' (2010), short films 'Mukti' (1990), 'Chakori' (1992), 'Bewaqt Barish' (2007), 'Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein', 'Ekalavya', 'Samvad' and 'Sarashi'.
There are also documentaries like 'Parting with Pride', 'Gautam Chya Aaichi Shala' and 'Pilgrims of Light', besides TV show episodes of 'Katha Sarita' (2011), 'Akherachi Ratra' and 'Bhais Barabar'.
It also includes a series of short films on language education 'Natigoti', 'How Shall I Address You' and 'Adgula Madgula'.
A 16 mm film 'Kishan ka Udan Khatola' made by another veteran filmmaker and activist Vijaya Mulay is also part of the collection.
Expressing his gratitude Sukthankar said that "the NFAI has been part of our filmmaking journey" all these years.
"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," urged Sukhthankar.
Earlier in 2014-15, the filmmaker duo had deposited 35-mm prints of some of their films and in 2018, on Bhave's 75th birthday, she donated original handwritten screenplays of ten of her films to NFAI.
"I am really happy that this major collection of the National Award-winning director duo would be preserved at NFAI. Their filmography, covering many important subjects, is a valuable social documentation of the era. I am sure this will be a valuable source of learning for students, researchers and budding filmmakers," said Magdum, while accepting the legacy.
He further appealed to filmmakers and production houses to come forward and deposit celluloid films at NFAI for posterity.