Shift cinema from I&B to ministry of culture: Dungarpur

Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur believes cinema in India should be shifted from the ministry of information and broadcasting and brought under the purview of the ministry of culture.
Delivering the 11th Dadasaheb Phalke Memorial Lecture, organised by the South Asian Cinema Foundation at the Nehru Centre here, Dungarpur suggested that cinema should be recognised as an art form in the Constitution of India.
Dungarpur, who has directed the acclaimed documentary "Celluloid Man" on National Film Archive of India's founder- director P K Nair, said India must have a "National Film Preservation Act along the lines of the United States of America law that recognises not just feature films, but all other film forms."

Dungarpur began his career as an assistant director to his mentor, writer-lyricist Gulzar. It was on Gulzar's suggestion Dungarpur enrolled in the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune to study film direction and scriptwriting.
He said the National Film Archive of India should be made an autonomous body and run by qualified film archivists and all states must have their own archives.
The South Asia Cinema Foundation's "Lifetime Achievement Award" in Indian Cinema's Centenary year 2013 was presented to leading film archivist, P K Nair, for his seminal role in creating a lasting film heritage in independent India.

Owing to ill health Nair could not attend the award ceremony and Dungarpur received the award on his behalf.