Pune: National Film Archives of India (NFAI) will screen rare footage of the freedom struggle on Sunday, August 13. There will also be a poster exhibition depicting India’s freedom movement and a live demo of the process of hand painting film posters.
The exhibition will feature posters of 20 films from different eras and languages, including Pehla Admi (1950), Andolan (1951) and Anandmath (1952). Hand-painted film posters are an artform unto themselves. Before photographic posters became commonplace, hand-painted posters were widely used for film publicity.
Film enthusiasts will get an opportunity to see the live demo by Subodh Guruji of Samarth Art Service, Mumbai. He has been active in the field of film publicity since the past 40 years.
The screening highlights include Joy Yatra, a footage of the Independence celebration ceremonies, clips depicting Independence Day in Delhi, Lord Wavell welcoming Indian leaders in Shimla, Gandhi and Jinnah negotiating for communal unity, India going to polls and the British Parliamentary Delegation in India. ‘Life of Subhashchandra Bose,’ which is a newsreel depicting Bose’s actions, and ‘Maker of Modern India: Gopal Krishna Gokhale’, a docudrama depicting the life and times of Gokhale and his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle will be screened, besides also the making of the Mahatma. Two feature films, ‘Andolan’ (1951) by Phani Majumdar and ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ (1953) by Sohrab Modi will also be screened.
As a part of the Independence Day celebrations, the NFAI campus will be lit up. Entry to the event is free and seating will be on first come first basis.
