A 4K restored version of Meena Kumari -starrer 1972 classic Pakeezah is set to have its world premiere at Festival Lumiere in Lyon, France, and the BFI London Film Festival. The restoration on the movie, directed by Kamal Amrohi, was spearheaded by not-for-profit organisation Film Heritage Foundation, which spent two years to bring the film to its original glory.
About the premiere of Pakeezah
From France, the film will travel to London for a gala screening at the BFI IMAX, that will be presented by FHF director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur alongside Amrohi’s children, Tajdar and Rukhsaar and grandson Bilal Amrohi. “I never imagined that I would be presenting the restored film with my family at the gala premiere in London fifty-four years later. I would like to thank Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Film Heritage Foundation for restoring the film with so much passion and meticulous care and for bringing my father and his greatest work back to life so that new generations will see the unforgettable Meena Kumari and enjoy the beauty of the film.
Dungarpur said restoring Pakeezah has been a long-held dream for him ever since he saw the movie as a child with his grandmother in a cinema hall in Dumraon, Bihar. He thanked Bilal for being the “moving spirit” behind the restoration work. Tajdar Amrohi recalled memories of attending the grand premiere of the movie in 1972 with his father and “Choti Ammi” (Kumari) when the film cans arrived at Maratha Mandir in a palanquin.
FHF has achieved the rare feat of placing a restored classic at every major global film festival over the past 12 months, including Berlin ( In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones ), Cannes ( Amma Ariyan ) and Venice (English, August). “And the other film elements we had to work with were not in good condition with faded colours, scratches and mould… During their research, the FHF team discovered original film stills which helped in restoration. Dungerpur also consulted Kamal Amrohi’s children — son Tajdar and daughter Rukhsaar — who had visited the sets and had vivid memories from the making of the film. The restoration, spearheaded by FHF in association with the Amrohi family, caps a historic year for the foundation on the international festival circuit.
I wondered how I would be able to restore Kamal Amrohi’s original vision with what I had to work with,” Dungerpur said in a statement. “I couldn’t have asked for a better showcase for the restored ‘Pakeezah’ than the Festival Lumiere in Lyon, the birthplace of cinema followed by a gala screening at the London Film Festival,” Dungerpur said.
