Bachchan lauds Bengal's initiative to preserve its films

Inaugurating the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival, Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan lauded the efforts of the West Bengal government to preserve its films shot in the bygone era, marking the 100 years of Bengali Cinema.

To restore the films, the West Bengal Government has tied up with Film Heritage Foundation.

Being the brand ambassador of Film Heritage Foundation, he said, "For many years the Film Heritage Foundation has been relentlessly working towards saving the cinematic heritage with very little support and lack of trained archivists."

He asserted that immediate steps like these should be taken, otherwise in the "next 100 years, there would no memory of these films".

The foundation has now identified a list of 100 Bengali films that must be saved.

Bachchan was happy to announce that 100 archivists have been trained for the job of preserving the films. "We now have a responsible and strong army to work towards the restoration of films," he said while commending the efforts of the foundation.

Further, he urged equal participation from the film industry and the common public in order to undertake this monumental task.

"Given the monumental task, we need the film industry and the public to come forward and join this movement, if we are to preserve our film legacy for posterity," he said as he signed off.

The Film Heritage foundation started by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in 2014 would now hold a film restoration workshop in Kolkata this year.

The inauguration of the film festival was also graced by the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other stalwarts of Bengali Cinema earlier today.

This year, the festival will showcase iconic Bengali movies to commemorate 100 years of Bengali Cinema.

Over 70 countries are participating in the eight-day long festival, with over 170 films waiting to be screened.