IFFI 2019: Restored versions of Ritwik Ghatak’s Titash Ekti Nadir Naam, Uday Shankar’s Kalpana to be screened

New and unreleased films aren’t the only ones that would be screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The ‘restored Indian classics’ section will showcase old classics that are digitally mastered. 

In this section, movie lovers will get to see Uday Shankar’s Hindi movie Kalpana (1948) and Ritwik Ghatak’s Bengali film Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Called Titash, 1973) this year. The films have been restored by Film Foundation of the legendary Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese. 

Kalpana stars famed dancer Uday Shankar along with his wife Amala Uday Shankar. The black and white film is a musical revolving around a young dancer who dreams of setting up a dance academy of his own. 

Titash Ekti Nadir Naam has Prabir Mitra and Rosy Samad in the main lead. The film explores the lives of fishermen on the banks of the river Titash in Brahmanbaria in Bangladesh. It was listed by British Film Institute (BFI) as one of the best Bangladeshi films in 2007. 

This year marks the golden jubilee edition of the festival. Hence, there are plans to make it bigger and better, as said by the makers in an official statement. This year the focus will also be on women’s directors as there will be films by 50 women directors being screened.