UK explores Indo-British film heritage

A screening of the film version of Emily Bronte's classic "Wuthering Heights", which starred Indian-origin actress Merle Oberon in the lead, launched a new project that will explore lesser known aspects of Indo-British cinema history.
"A Hidden Heritage - Indo-British Film Collaboration in UK (1930-1951)" is being masterminded by London-based South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF) with the help of a 41,500-pound grant from Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund.
"The idea is to expose a little known area of Indo-British film heritage in the UK and highlight the life and work of many people of British and South Asian origin who played a distinguished role in cinema during the period of our study," SACF director Lalit Mohan Joshi told PTI.

Oberon, an Anglo-Indian actress born in Mumbai, stands out "due to the way people of mixed race origin were viewed at the time and the steps she felt compelled to take to safeguard her career", he said.
The actress moved to Britain to pursue her career and went on to make her mark in Hollywood in films like "The Private Life of Henry VIII" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel". She kept her Indian origins a secret and sometimes claimed she was born in Australia.
"However, there were others too who we will focus on during the course of the project," Joshi said.

The year-long project will highlight the work of Sabu, the first actor of Indian origin to become an international star, and explore the on-screen partnership of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani.