Rescuing and restoring the soul of Indian cinema

Cinema is more than moving images on a screen. It is memory, imagination, and history intertwined. Each film captures a moment in time, a reflection of who we were, what we dreamt of, and how we saw the world.

- CHAITANYA K PRASAD

Yet, like all fragile memories, films fade too. Neglect, decay, and time have already erased countless treasures from India’s cinematic past. Recently, I came across a full-page advertisement of an upcoming event organised by the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation’s one-day symposium on cinema, ‘Future of Memories’, and I jumped with joy. As someone who truly cherishes films, I believe there’s no better way to honour our cinematic past than by bringing its classics back to life through restoration.

Why film preservation matters?

Every restored frame is a resurrection of history. Film preservation is not just about saving celluloid; it’s about protecting a piece of cultural identity. When we preserve a film, we preserve the artistry, emotion, and vision of the people who created it. We preserve their struggles, their experiments, and their reflections of society. Each reel becomes a time capsule of fashion, architecture, speech, and values that defined an era.

For India, with its rich and varied film traditions across languages and regions, preservation holds even greater importance. Our cinema has chronicled the nation’s changing landscape from the hopes of independence to the complexities of modern life. Losing these films would mean losing our collective story. Preservation allows us to revisit that legacy, to study the evolution of storytelling, and to appreciate the craftsmanship of the filmmakers who came before us.

What makes this moment particularly exciting is how technology has transformed the possibilities of film restoration. Advanced digital tools now allow experts to clean, repair, and even reconstruct damaged films with remarkable precision. Scratches are removed, colors are revived, and sound is restored to its original depth.