The birth centenary of Ritwik Ghatak (1925-1976) has been observed in several ways. His grandnephew Shamya Dasgupta brought out an anthology of essays about the acclaimed Bengali filmmaker, titled Unmechanical – Ritwik Ghatak In 50 Fragments. There have been screenings of Ghatak’s films, as well as public discussions about his legacy.

The National Film Archive of India has joined the celebration. The government-run archive has restored all of Ghatak’s films. The restorations spans Ghatak’s eight features, short films, documentaries and unfinished projects.

The eight features – among them Meghe Dhaka Tara, Ajantrik, Komal Gandhar, Subarnarekha and Titas Ekti Nadir Naam – were recently screened by NFAI’s parent body, National Film Development Corporation, at the British Film Institute in London. The package has also travelled to the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival dedicated to classic cinema in Bologna.

“Ritwik Ghatak’s body of work is huge, and given the centenary and his significance, we thought that we should restore all his films,” Prakash Magdum, Managing Director, NFDC, told Scroll. “There are also plans to release the films in cinemas across the country. The idea is to make this cinema accessible.”

While many prints were already at the NFAI centre in Pune, a few were taken from the West Bengal State Film Archive in Kolkata. The restoration, part of the Union Ministry of Information and...

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