Amitabh Bachchan has preserved prints of his films: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has successfully saved the prints of most of his films, founder and director of Film Heritage Foundation Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said on Thursday (15 November).

Bachchan would ask the producers to give him the prints of his films.

"When we approached Bachchan, we found it interesting to note that he used to ask the film producers to give him a copy of a subtitled print and another print. In that process he maintained most of his films," Dungarpur said at the 4th Preservation and Restoration Workshop's opening at the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).

He said film restoration is the need of the hour. There has to be awareness about it, as there was a need for trained archivists.

"I am really glad with such concerted efforts for restoring great works of Bengali cinema. We are celebrating the centenary of Bengali cinema. So saving our work is of utmost importance," said KIFF chairman and leading Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee.

Bachchan is the brand ambassador of the initiative. He shared a video message wishing it a great success.

"West Bengal produced some of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwick Ghatak and so on. I would thank the government for supporting the initiative, so the future generations would be able to see these works," Bachchan said.

At least 100 Bengali classics have been identified for restoration.