Sadness and nothing but Sadness

Rare things are supposed to be preserved. The reason being that they offer a glimpse into things which individuals do not have an idea about. The reason why Historical Artifacts are preserved is because they offer a glimpse into the events of the past which shape up the future. That is why millions are invested into safeguarding and preserving historical monuments and artifacts. But, unfortunately, here in India, some pieces of history are destroyed, and this gives me nothing but sadness.

In a News Item today on CNN-IBN, a story about India's first Talking movie was broadcast. The film 'Alam Ara', released on March 14th, 1931, was the first film ever to have voice in India, and this ultimately paved the way for Indian Cinema to be what it is today. Considering the impact that Indian cinema has on the world today, treasures like these should be preserved. But, unfortunately, there is not even a single print of this film anywhere. The prints of the film were destroyed in a fire in the Pune Film office some years ago, and thus no traces remain. Even films like 'Raja Harishchandra', which was the first film ever made in India, is suffering from the same fate.

The report ended by saying that to retrieve the prints of these rare films would be very difficult indeed. Generations who would want to know about the beginnings of Indian Cinema now have to deal with only facts written on paper, not the original film. It is indeed a shame that the authorities could have been so careless. We could forgive them for the one fact that it was by accident that a fire broke out which destroyed the film. But, it is a Cardinal sin to not have made copies of the print, regardless of how slow or painstaking it might have been.

I guess this is the difference between India and the West. The West, notably Hollywood preserves most of its works and has back up copies of most films. I stand by this, because i could watch a 1920's American Film titled 'Birth of a Nation', on a CD for my Cinema subject. We got a glimpse of Cinema in the 1920's by watching this film. Thus, we only have ourselves to blame for not preserving our History. Our Film Industry can rectify some of the errors by preserving some of the films of the 40's at least. But, for me, the damage has already been done, and a rich Treasure trove has been lost for Indian Cinema. This should also make the New Generation very Sad, for they have lost the chance to discover something good about their Cinema.