'Celluloid Man' to miss date with cine history in Kolkata, Hyd

"Celluloid Man", a documentary film that explores the life and work of the legendary Indian archivist P K Nair, is scheduled for release tomorrow but fans in Kolkata and Hyderabad will have to wait a little longer leaving its director upset.
Directed by Shivendera Singh Dungarpur, the acclaimed documentary depicts the struggle of 80-year-old Nair, who almost single-handedly built one of the most enviable film archives in India at NFAI.
The film is being released countrywide by PVR Director's Rare to mark the completion of 100 years of 'Raja Harishchandra' which was released exactly a century ago on May 3, 1913 at the Coronation Theatre in Bombay (now Mumbai) and was produced and directed by Dadasaheb Phalke.

But Dungarpur, 43, is upset to see his National-award-winning documentary missing its audience in Kolkata and Hyderabad.
"We received a list of theatres for the country-wide release, from the PVR, but to my disappointment, at the last moment, they have removed Kolkata and Hyderbad from it, though they had promised it earlier," Dungarpur told PTI.
"I feel devastated now. Kolkata has some of my major audience and it's a huge blow to my efforts to bring the story of the cinematic heritage of India and its preservation to its people. In Delhi also, they have given us two theatres only though they had promised more," he added.

According to PVR, the film is now slated for a release in nine theatres across six cities -- Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chennai. They attribute the change in screening schedule to multiple reasons.