As a film enthusiast who has spent countless hours delving into the rich tapestry of world cinema, I can confidently say that the restoration of Girish Kasaravalli’s “Ghatashraddha” is a momentous occasion. This film, born nearly five decades ago in the vibrant heart of Indian cinema, has been meticulously brought back to life, thanks to the tireless efforts of Martin Scorsese‘s Film Foundation, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation, and other generous benefactors.
The reworked adaptation of renowned Indian filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli’s first full-length film, “Ghatashraddha,” which was originally released in 1977 and filmed in Kannada, is scheduled to make its debut at the Venice Film Festival.
As a passionate cinephile, I’m thrilled to share that this restoration project is a joint effort between Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation (FHF). Funded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson’s Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, it breathes new life into a timeless Indian classic that has been absent from international screens for 47 years following its initial release.
“Ghatashraddha,” derived from a work by U.R. Ananthamurthy, narrates the tale of Yamuna, a young widow living in a spiritual institution run by her father in southern India. Upon conceiving a child with a local educator, she encounters social rejection and endures a ceremony where her father smashes a clay pot, signifying her exclusion from society.
The foundation for restoring the film ‘Ghatashraddha’ is a well-preserved original camera negative housed at the National Film Development Corporation-National Film Archive of India. As shared with EbMaster, Film Heritage Foundation had long desired to restore this film, and Dungarpur expressed concern that without immediate restoration, the condition of the negative might worsen.
The restoration process encountered various technical hurdles due to the deteriorated condition of the original camera negative. As Dungarpur elaborated, it was affected by mold and had numerous issues such as broken and brittle splices, tears, perforations with breaks, old adhesive residues, and scratches. Nonetheless, L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna successfully undertook the extensive restoration work.
The movie “Ghatashraddha” is adorned with the beautiful cinematography of S. Ramachandra and the enchanting music of B.V. Karanth. The cast includes Meena Kuttappa and Narayana Bhat.
According to Dungarpur, Girish Kasaravalli was actively involved in every step of the process, particularly focusing on grading the black-and-white film, adding subtitles, and fine-tuning the sound since the film’s sound design is intricate and subtle. Notably, the captivating score for this project was created by the renowned B.V. Karanth.
For several months now, I’ve been deeply immersed in the restoration project of ‘Ghatashraddha’, collaborating closely with the Film Heritage Foundation. My daily conversations with Shivendra have been centered around aspects like color grading, black density, sound quality, and subtitling. When we embarked on this journey, I was fully aware that the original camera negative wasn’t in pristine condition and I harbored significant concerns about the film’s sound due to a persistent hiss throughout.
Since the 35mm duplicate sound negative was problematic due to distortion problems, the team searched for and obtained a 35mm print from the Library of Congress, which had superior audio quality as an alternative.
“Kasaravalli was truly amazed when he received the final version of the restored ‘Ghatashraddha’ from Shivendra. Seeing the movie rejuvenated after nearly 50 years, with such breathtaking splendor, has been an eye-opening experience for him.”
“I’m thrilled beyond words to announce that my first movie, ‘Ghatashraddha,’ will make its world debut at this year’s Venice Film Festival – a whopping 47 years after its initial release. I can hardly contain my excitement to be in Venice and present this film myself.”
The restored “Ghatashraddha” plays at the Venice Classics strand.
In the future, FHF plans to re-release Pradip Krishen’s classic film “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,” originally from 1989, which was written and acted by Arundhati Roy. Additionally, they will bring back Mani Ratnam’s critically acclaimed movie “Iruvar” from 1997.
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2024-09-01 08:47