In
one
of
the
major
acquisitions,
the
National
Film
Archive
of
India
has
added
89
film
prints
in
the
16mm
and
35mm
format
to
its
collection.
Most
of
the
films
acquired
belong
to
the
golden
age
of
Marathi
cinema
from
the
1950s
to
the
70s
and
there
are
some
important
Hindi
films
as
well
in
the
collection.
With
23
black
&
white
films,
this
is
a
significant
acquisition
of
the
old
era
of
Indian
cinema.
"We
are
delighted
to
receive
this
significant
collection
of
films
belonging
to
the
golden
era
of
Marathi
Cinema
and
a
few
well-known
Hindi
films.
The
exciting
thing
is
there
are
few
rare
films
including
Tai
Teleen
(1953)
and
Pavanakathcha
Dhondi
(1966)
which
were
believed
to
be
lost
but
now
they
are
part
of
NFAI.
I
take
this
opportunity
to
appeal
to
film
producers,
distributors
and
individual
collectors
to
come
forward
and
submit
films
as
well
as
film
publicity
material
for
preservation,
with
the
purpose
of
safeguarding
our
cinematic
heritage",
said
Prakash
Magdum,
Director,
NFAI.
The
highlight
of
the
collection
is
two
rare
Marathi
films
Tai
Teleen
(1953)
and
Pavanakathcha
Dhondi
(1966)
which
were
considered
to
be
lost.
'Tai
Teleen'
is
a
historical
film
made
by
Aaryan
Film
Company
starring
well-known
artists
like
Shanta
Apte,
Sudha
Apte,
Nalini
Borkar
and
Zuzarrao
Pawar.
Directed
by
KP
Bhave
and
Anto
Narhari,
the
music
was
composed
by
Master
Krishnarao.
Another
major
film
considered
to
be
lost
till
now,
Anant
Thakur's
'Pavanakathcha
Dhondi'
had
won
the
National
Film
Award
for
Best
Marathi
Film
in
1966.
Thakur
had
earlier
directed
Raj
Kapoor
starrer
Chori
Chori
in
1956
and
this
was
his
first
film
as
a
director
in
Marathi.
The
film,
produced
by
Usha
Mangeshkar
under
Shri
Mahalakshmi
Chitra
banner,
starred
renowned
Marathi
stars
Jayashree
Gadkar,
Chandrakant
and
Suryakant
in
the
leading
roles.
It
was
one
of
the
rare
instances
where
real-life
brothers
Chandrakant
and
Suryakant
played
brothers
on-screen.
As
part
of
NFAI's
Aural
History
project,
Suryakant
had
reminisced
that
it
was
an
emotional
moment
for
both
of
them
to
share
screen
space
together
as
siblings.
The
film
was
based
on
the
popular
novel
by
writer
G.
N.
Dandekar
and
the
music
of
the
film
was
composed
by
Hridaynatah
Mangeshkar.
Another
highlight
of
the
collection
is
the
Ram
Gabale
film
Dev
Pavala
(1950).
The
film
starring
Damuanna
Malavankar
and
Vishnupant
Jog
was
shot
in
the
iconic
Prabhat
Studio
in
Pune.
The
other
notable
Marathi
films
are
Rajan
Kumar's
Bhaubejj
(1955),
Madhav
Shinde's
Antaricha
Deeva
(1960),
Datta
Dharmadhikari's
Subhadraharan
(1963),
Vasant
Painter's
Bara
Varshe
Saha
Mahine
Teen
Divas
(1967),
Raj
Dutt's
Dhakti
Bahin
(1970),
Keshav
Toro's
Pudhari
(1972),
Govind
Kulkarni's
Banya
Bapu
(1977),
Raja
Bargir's
Deed
Shahane
(1979),
Susheel
Gajwani's
Rakhandar
(1982),
and
Kanchan
Nayak's
Kalat
Nakalat
(1989).
The
collection
also
includes
films
by
some
key
Marathi
filmmakers
such
as
Bhalji
Pendharkar's
Sadhi
Manse
(1965),
Raja
Thakur's
Rajmanya
Rajashri
(1959),
Ekti
(1968)
and
Gharkul
(1970),
and
Ramesh
Deo's
Chhand
Priticha
(1968)
and
Jeeva
Sakha
(1991).
Along
with
the
majority
of
Marathi
films,
the
collection
also
consists
few
significant
Hindi
films
such
as
Shakti
Samanta's
black
&
white
venture
Naughty
Boy
(1962)
with
Kishore
Kumar
as
the
Hero,
Mohan
Kumar's
Aman
(1967),
which
features
rare
cameo
appearances
by
Ghazal
maestro
Jagjit
Singh
and
British
Nobel
laureate
Bertrand
Russell.
Other
notable
titles
include
Guest
House
(1959)
by
Ravindra
Dave,
Taj
Mahal
(1963)
by
M
Sadiq,
Shikari
(1963)
by
Muhammed
Hussain,
Do
Yaar
(1972)
by
Kewal
Mishra,
and
Uttam
Kumar
starrer
Bandie
(1978)
directed
by
Alo
Sarkar.