Chennai :
Classic and vintage movies have always been cherished for their grandeur and story line. In a recently conducted public art festival, M Venkatesan, a filmmaker displayed a photo-art-installation of vintage classics including movies like Meera (1945), Ambikapathy (1937), Manthiri Kumari (1950) and Ponmudi (1950). But, do these movies ring a bell? Classic movie buffs can spot the one common feature in a jiffy. Yes, Ellis R Dungan!
This American film director is renowned for his work in Indian films, predominantly south Indian films. Themed around Dungan’s journey in Indian cinema, Venkatesan said, “All these pictures have been meticulously sourced and restored for the present and future generation to witness the golden era of films.”
Venkatesan has been interested in film restoration and image preservation film archiving for over a decade now. “My interest in films goes back to when my grandparents idolised MGR and Sivaji on screen. It was always about getting a haircut like Rajinikanth or being an ardent lover like Gemini Ganesan,” he quipped about his venture into the industry.
Inspired by the works of Dungan, Venkatesh wanted to restore lost images and visuals of his works. “I have been researching, sourcing, preserving and restoring these images for almost eight years. The man introduced actors like MGR in Sathi Leelavathi and T S Balaiya. Should I say more?” smiles the filmmaker who runs a production house, Sai Media.
With most of the images from vintage movies lost in time, he explained, “Unlike foreign classic movies, most of our old movies are lost in time and there aren’t many who come forward to restore it. Why? Because we give more importance to foreign movies!” he avers.
Pointing to the installation of a still from the movie Avvaiyar (1953) starring the legendry K B Sundarambal, he claimed, “This might be the first still photo of an actress outside the sets. In those days, taking stills of actors beyond the film set wasn’t common unlike now and having a still of it is worth a million dollars.”
Having done a digital version of these images, Venkatesan elucidated, “This is my first attempt in having a hard copy of the installation. I earlier did a digital presentation. But, I feel doing it this way will have a better impact,” he said. “I have spoken to over 42 people in a single day. This shows that everyone is interested in classic cinema and they know it. They just need a medium where they can learn more about it,” stated Venkatesan who considers legendary Indian archivist P K Nair and American director Martin Scorsese as role models in Film Culture & Preservation.
While most of us think that roping in technicians from abroad and having larger-than-life sets have been a fad only for the last decade, the installations prove us wrong. “If you look closely at the photo of Bhama Vijayam (1934), you’ll be able to spot foreigners who are also a part of the movie,” he explains, “Period movies were taken on a grand scale and the sets are just mind-blowing. All this was always a part of the Indian cinema, it’s only now that people are hyped about how we have an international connection in a movie.”
Working towards his goal of taking classic cinema to everyone, he said, “My team has been supportive and I want this to be preserved for our future generation to know how rich our techniques were.”
Notable Projects
Kadhal Mannan: The King of Romance: The Biography of Late Gemini Ganesan
Kshama: Written & Directed By Venkatesan M (Special Honorary Screening: Chennai International Film Festival & Other international Festivals)
Madurai Jallikathu: Written & Directed By Venkatesan M (New York Times Media & Other Channels)
canada connect
Participated as the only South Indian Filmmaker/ Producer in the Indo-Canadian Co-Production Delegation 2015 and was part of the team which initiated and signed the Treaty with Canada Government.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Roshne B / April 27th, 2016