Five of my films in poor shape: Buddhadeb Dasgupta

The negatives of five acclaimed celluloid works of eminent filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta are in very bad shape and need immediate restoration, the director said.

"The master negatives of five of my works - Dooratwa (1978), Phera (1988), Bagh Bahadur (1989), Uttara (2000) and Ami Yasin aar amar Madhubala (2007) are in very poor shape," the 74-year old director told PTI.

Dasgupta is upset that no initiative has been taken by different producers of the films to ensure proper upkeep of the negatives.

'Uttara' won Silver Lion for best director award at the Venice Film Festival (2000), 'Phera' got Golden Bear nomination at the Berlin International Film Festival (1988) and 'Dooratwa' received Critic's Award at the Locarno Film Festival.

All these films were also nominated in other prestigious film festivals, he said.

Dasgupta, who won national award multiple times, said he had on Wednesday (November 21) handed over the negatives of some of the five films to the Film Heritage Foundation "so that the films, which are so close to me, can be kept for the next generations for screening."
He declined to name the films "for some reasons at this stage."