Bimal Roys restored Do Bigha Zamin to premiere in Venice
The announcement was made on what would have been Bimal Roy's 116th birth anniversary.
This restoration was led by Film Heritage Foundation in partnership with The Criterion Collection and Janus Films. Members of the Roy family--including daughters Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, Aparajita Roy Sinha, and son Joy Bimal Roy--will be present at the festival along with Film Heritage Foundation director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of Film Heritage.
Do Bigha Zamin is widely regarded as a landmark in Indian cinema. It was the first Indian film to win the Prix International at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954. The film also earned recognition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and won Best Film and Best Director at the first Filmfare Awards in India.
The restoration process began in 2022 and took over three years to complete. Original negatives held by the National Film Archive of India and the British Film Institute were used to restore the film.
Gulzar, who started his career in films by assisting Bimal Roy during the production of the 1961 Kabuliwala film in a press note said, "The most important element is that all his films right from the Bengali ones which he made and the Hindi films which he made, all these films were based on literature. Not many people know that 'Do Bigha Zamin' is from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, which was also called 'Do Bigha Zamin'. The script was done by Salil Choudhury. I started working with Bimal-da, who we used to call Dada, from the film 'Kabuliwala' when I was his chief assistant."
The film, inspired by Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, tells the story of a poor farmer who moves to the city with his son in a desperate attempt to save his land. It is known for its realistic portrayal of urban poverty and rural displacement, and for Balraj Sahni's critically acclaimed performance.
Bimal Roy, considered one of India's most important filmmakers, was known for combining strong social themes with poetic storytelling. His work helped shape the Golden Age of Indian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. He passed away in 1966 at the age of 56. (ANI)
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