Hindi
Indian cinema: Road to resurrection
MUMBAI: Imagine all those black and white films dating back to the early days of Indian cinema gathering dust in climate-controlled vaults of film archives and production houses with no thought of resurrecting them.
It was K L Saigal’s Devdas that instigated filmmakers to take the film restoration route when the movie, stored in vaults of productions houses and archives, deteriorated with time and was lost forever.
Initially, restoration of films would be done by studios abroad for want of expert professionals in India. It was the Australia-based colourisation and restoration of motion pictures company Time-Brush Technologies that restored and coloured V Shataram’s classic Do Ankhen Barah Haath in 2007.
But slowly, as digital technology came at hand and new technique gained ground, many Indian studios like Prasad Film Laboratories (EFX), Film Lab, Shemaroo Entertainment, Reliance MediaWorks and Prime Focus ventured into the film restoration business.
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Film Lab, which set up its film restoration plant two years ago, has restored MS Sathyu’s film Garam Hawa . “We have completed the restoration work and are awaiting the release of the film sometime in August,” averred Film Lab Business Associate Rajiv Dwivedi. “The work included full grading, 2K scanning and complete restoration. The audio restoration work was however carried on in the US. The film was then recorded back to 35 mm film. All this was done at a cost of Rs 2 million.”
Film Lab has restored approximately 20 films, mostly those from Hollywood, which involved full restoration and dust-busting work.
Prasad Film Laboratories’ film restoration wing EFX too has restored as many as 200 Hollywood films in a span of three to four years that include 12 Academy Award and 7 Golden Globe Award winners. Recently, EFX restored films like Kabhie Kabhie, Dost and the 1948 English Film The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell.
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The Mrinal Sen-directed Khandahar had developed scratches and image warps apart from being torn at many places. Its audio quality too had deteriorated and it needed complete restoration. It was Reliance MediaWorks Ltd that took the task on hand and at a cost of Rs 50 the movie was resurrected before being sent to the Cannes Film Festival.
The other prominent films restored by Reliance MediaWorks include the 1899 silent film Panorama of Calcutta and Saraswati Chandra .
“Generally, it takes around 10 to 12 days in an eight hour’s work to restore a film,” says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun. “And, on average, restoring Indian films could cost anywhere up to Rs 5 million.”
According to Dwivedi, the current size of the restoration market is around $2 million and by 2012 it is likely to grow to $15 million at the rate of 200 per cent. “This could be achieved with the restoration of the huge archives of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and National Film Archive of India (NFAI),” feels Dwivedi.
According to Arjun, around 500 films are set to be restored by the end of 2010 and the country needs more professionals in the field.
Which is why the Information and broadcasting Ministry recently declared its plans to offer courses in film restoration at various institutes like the Pune Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and many other government-run mass communication colleges.
Says Arjun, “I am happy that the I&B Ministry has declared plans to offer courses in film restoration. In fact, we have very few professionals in the trade and for the industry to reach its zenith, we need a surge in the number of professionals in the trade.”
Hindi
Dhurandhar 2 hit by YouTube leak amid record box office run
Cam-rip surfaces online but blockbuster streak continues at record pace
MUMBAI: It has been a dramatic week for Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Even as the espionage thriller smashes box office records, a piracy scare briefly threatened to steal its thunder after a full-length version surfaced on YouTube.
The leak emerged on March 30 via a channel titled “A2z movie”, which uploaded what appeared to be a cam-recorded print of the film. Clocking in at nearly three hours and 49 minutes, the footage was reportedly blurry but complete enough to spark spoilers and fan outrage online.
Soon after, users on X began flagging the issue, explicitly naming the “A2z movie” channel in their posts while tagging the film’s makers and urging swift legal action. Fans of director Aditya Dhar and lead star Ranveer Singh were particularly vocal, helping the issue gain rapid traction.
Within hours, the video was taken down, likely through a mix of platform detection systems and intervention by producers Jio Studios and B62 Studios.
Despite the leak, the film’s theatrical run remains virtually unshaken. As of March 31, the sequel has raked in an estimated Rs 872.17 crore net in India, with worldwide collections soaring to Rs 1,392.23 crore. Its Hindi opening day alone brought in Rs 102.55 crore, setting a new benchmark.
In a notable milestone, the film has matched Pushpa 2 as the fastest Indian release to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark globally, achieving the feat in just seven days.
Interestingly, the version leaked online is believed to be an earlier cut. Midway through its theatrical run, the makers issued revised prints after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a fleeting editing error involving a cameraman’s reflection. The corrected version now plays across cinemas, adding an unusual twist to the film’s release journey.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the high-stakes sequel stars Ranveer Singh alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Sara Arjun. The film has drawn praise for its scale and action sequences, though some critics have pointed to its intense violence and layered political themes.
For now, piracy may have made noise, but it has not slowed the juggernaut. If anything, the episode underlines the film’s cultural grip, proving that even a leak cannot derail a box office storm already in full force.
