Latest news with #IlCinemaRitrovato
Time of India
10-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Sholay@50: How just another dacoit tale went on to become a fable
Sholay@50: How just another dacoit tale went on to become a fable Avijit Ghosh TNN Aug 10, 2025, 14:04 IST IST Sholay was initially declared a flop and panned by critics. Now, the all-time blockbuster — celebrating its 50th birthday on August 15 — is regarded as the 'best' and 'greatest' film in polls. An exploration of how director Ramesh Sippy's film lives in our heads through its dialogues and characters It was a warm but amiable night in Bologna. By the time the open-air screening started at the north Italian town's sprawling Piazza Maggiore, it was already 10pm. Yet, at least 2,000 cinephiles, mostly Italians, had turned up. This was Sholay 's restored, uncut version — an intimidating three hours and 24 minutes in length — at the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival. 'But the audience was glued, watching in pin-drop silence. When the film ended at 1.30am, the cheering was incredible. Sholay is timeless,' says Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, whose Film Heritage Foundation has restored the film. If the viewers' reaction in Italy in June reaffirmed Sholay 's enduring appeal across countries and generations, an X post made by Iran's Consulate General in Mumbai in July revealed the film's abiding impact. 'Many Iranians still associate #Bollywood with this epic,' it said, adding that a newspaper in Iran had published a full-pager commemorating the movie's 50 years.
Mint
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
‘Sholay' at 50: Retaining a movie's magic in translation
Tu kya ladega mujhse,Thakur? Tere to haath kaatkar phenk chuka hoon main. (How can you fight me, Thakur? I cut off both your hands and threw them away.) Snaap ko haath se nahi, pairon se kuchla jaata hai,Gabbar. (You don't trample a snake with hands, you use feet, Gabbar.) Fifty years of Sholay have passed yet much of the film's dialogue still resonates with movie lovers, feeling as fresh as if it was heard yesterday. What makes for successful film dialogue? Lines that provide information while also suggesting the temperament of the characters. Dialogue can carry poetic weight, be replete with clever repartee, roll out unexpected punchlines, and carry forward the narrative. Alongside actors' performances, dialogue creates a deeper connection between story and viewer. Salim Khan is credited with writing the story and screenplay, and Javed Akhtar with the dialogue. Their masterly structure and arrangement of dramatic situations effortlessly lend themselves to original exchanges, as evident in countless scenes. So it is unsurprising that Sholay is among only a handful of films—like the epic Mughal-e-Azam— whose dialogue soundtrack was released on an LP in the 1970s. Audiences at the Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna, Italy, this year were the first to see an excellently restored version of Sholay, undertaken by the Film Heritage Foundation and producer Shehzad Sippy. When I was asked to subtitle this version, which included the original ending, it proved both a delight and a challenge. I had certain hesitations about the translation, which were resolved during a conversation with Javed Akhtar, who happened to be in London. I explained I was unsure about the Urdu word karaare— which Gabbar uses to describe Basanti's body in the final scenes. Firm? Sturdy? He suggested 'toned"—so the subtitle now reads 'Look at her arms and legs. How toned they are". Many years earlier, I had asked Javed Akhtar about the purpose of creating Gabbar's sidekick Saambha who has only one memorable line in the film: 'Poore pachaas hazaar (Full fifty thousand)" in response to Gabbar's question about the bounty on his head. He explained that a man with an outsized ego like Gabbar's could not belittle himself by announcing the reward money, so the scene required a lackey. For the most part, when translating, I found it unnecessary to be too clever or find English turns of phrases that depart from the original Hindustani because Sholay's lines are full of simple power and imagery. Why would anyone mess with lines like these: Gabbar: Tera kya hoga, Kaalia? (What will become of you, Kaalia?) Kaalia: Sardar, maine aap ka namak khaaya (Chief,I have eaten your salt) Gabbar: Ab... goli khaa (Now... eat my bullet). Nasreen Munni Kabir is an author, a documentary filmmaker, curator and subtitler.
Time of India
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Italy honours Film Heritage Foundation Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur with the prestigious Vittorio Boarini award
This prestigious award recognizes Dungarpur's extraordinary dedication to the cause of film preservation and restoration, and his pivotal role in building a movement to save film heritage across India and the subcontinent. Almost 10-15 years ago, when film restoration experts in India first began sounding the alarm that 75% of early Indian cinema had vanished due to neglect, decay, and indifference, the revelation was both staggering and sobering. The loss seemed irreversible. But this month, at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, Italy, one of the most tireless champions of India's cinematic legacy received a powerful global endorsement. National Award-winning filmmaker, archivist and Director of Film Heritage Foundation, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur , was conferred with the esteemed Vittorio Boarini Award at a special ceremony recently, during the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy by Gian Luca Farinelli, Director of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna. This prestigious award recognizes Dungarpur's extraordinary dedication to the cause of film preservation and restoration, and his pivotal role in building a movement to save film heritage across India and the subcontinent. Andrea Anastasio, director of the Italian Institute of Delhi says," The award is a very prestigious acknowledgement of Shivendra and Teesha's work. When Shivendra stated that 75% of early Indian cinema is lost due to neglect and absence of conservation, it was clear that unless someone started the process, future Indian generations would not have been able to know their heritage.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dementia and Memory Loss Has Been Linked To This Common Thing. Memory Health Learn More Undo Italy has honoured Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Teesha Cherian of the Film Heritage Foundation. Italy, through Bologna's Cineteca di Bologna and the festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, has emerged as a key international partner in India's cinematic salvage mission. Many of the restored Indian classics that have travelled to global film festivals - Ishanou, Aranyer Din Ratri etc have been brought back to life with Italy's technical support and curatorial platform. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur states, "I am deeply honoured to be the recipient of the Vittorio Boarini Award which is a recognition of my work in film preservation under the aegis of Film Heritage Foundation that I founded in 2014. It has been a very challenging undertaking to work towards saving endangered film heritage in our part of the world with limited resources and support over a decade. But I am proud to say that we have built a movement for film preservation not just in India, but in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal and achieved many milestones in an incredibly short span of time from training film archivists to doing world-class restorations of Indian films to bringing classic cinema back to the big screen and preserving every bit of film heritage we can find. It is wonderful to have this work appreciated and acknowledged and it only reaffirms our commitment to the cause as there is so much more to do.' Shivendra Singh Dungarpur Andrea Anastasio, director of Italian Institute of New Delhi says, "This is enough to understand the value and the relevance of the work the Film Heritage Institute does. After the award ceremony, we could see the restored copy of Aranyer Din Ratri, by Satyajit Ray at the Arlecchino Theatre, a great hall with a fantastic screen . It was a house full screening and it was really amazing to see the crowd of young viewers attending the screening. That's what Bologna is also relevant a year, for ten days the city is flooded with film buffs from all over the world in occasion of 'Il Cinema Ritrovato' (literally The Re-Found Cinema). It's a festival spread all over Bologna, where restored old films from all over the world are screened in the new splendour of 4K in the city's theatre, while every night a giant screening outdoor happens at Piazza Maggiore, exactly where the restored copy of Sholay was screened last 27th June." Dungarpur credits the Cineteca di Bologna as the inspiration behind the establishment of the Film Heritage Foundation, noting its integral role in the foundation's journey over the past fifteen years. Further elaborating on his personal connection to the Cineteca di Bologna and the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival he adds, "I first attended the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival conducted by Cineteca di Bologna in 2010 and it changed my life. I saw the best of world cinema beautifully restored, and entered a whole new world where people were dedicated to saving films for posterity and bringing them back to life again. I went as a filmmaker and cinephile and emerged wearing another hat of a film archivist and have been going back to Bologna every year since then. " The presentation of the Vittorio Boarini Award to Shivendra Singh Dungarpur highlights his significant impact on safeguarding cinematic history and underscores the global importance of film preservation efforts. The Vittorio Boarini Award, instituted in 2022 by the Cinetecadi Bologna as part of its annual Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, is an international recognition honoring individuals or institutions who have made exceptional contributions to the preservation, restoration, promotion or dissemination of cinema as cultural heritage. It is named in tribute to Vittorio Boarini (1938–2021), the visionary founder and first director of the Cineteca di Bologna, whose efforts were instrumental in transforming it into one of the world's foremost film archives. The award celebrates a lifelong commitment to cinema preservation, international advocacy for film heritage, leadership in archive building and programming and work that bridges archival and public access to classic and rare films.
Time of India
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur receives prestigious Vittorio Boarini award for film preservation
Filmmaker, archivist and director of the Film Heritage Foundation, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur , was conferred with the esteemed Vittorio Boarini Award at a special ceremony on June 27, 2025, during the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy. This prestigious award recognises Dungarpur's extraordinary dedication to the cause of film preservation and restoration, and his pivotal role in building a movement to save film heritage across India and the subcontinent. The Vittorio Boarini Award, instituted in 2022 by the Cineteca di Bologna as part of its annual Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, is an international recognition honouring individuals or institutions who have made exceptional contributions to the preservation, restoration, promotion or dissemination of cinema as cultural heritage. It is named in tribute to Vittorio Boarini (1938–2021), the visionary founder and first director of the Cineteca di Bologna, whose efforts were instrumental in transforming it into one of the world's foremost film archives. The award celebrates a lifelong commitment to cinema preservation, international advocacy for film heritage, leadership in archive building and programming and work that bridges archival and public access to classic and rare films. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dhoni's Exclusive Home Interior Choice? HomeLane Get Quote Undo Talking about the award, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said, "I am deeply honoured to be the recipient of the Vittorio Boarini Award, named after an extraordinary man who founded the Cineteca di Bologna, an institution and its people that has had a profound impact on me." He credits the Cineteca di Bologna as the inspiration behind the establishment of the Film Heritage Foundation, noting its integral role in the foundation's journey over the past fifteen years. Further elaborating on his personal connection to the Cineteca di Bologna and the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival he added, "I first attended the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival conducted by Cineteca di Bologna in 2010 and it changed my life. I saw the best of world cinema beautifully restored, and entered a whole new world where people were dedicated to saving films for posterity and bringing them back to life again. I went as a filmmaker and cinephile and emerged wearing another hat of a film archivist and have been going back to Bologna every year since then. "
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Traveling film fest brings rare and restored movies to Minnesota this week
Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour is returning to the Twin Cities with a curated run of rare, restored, and recovered films that are rarely, if ever, seen on the big screen. The festival alights at The Main Cinema from Feb. 14–16, bringing highlights from the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, held annually in Bologna. The 2025 program, brought to Minnesota for the third time by the locally-based Archives on Screen, is focused on feminist, documentary, and anti-colonial cinema. Part of the festival's one-of-a-kind magic is that it isn't just a program dedicated to preserving film history but brings exciting work — and important, often overlooked history — to the screen that would be almost impossible to see otherwise. Those films include short silent films from cinema's birth, a satanic feminist revenge satire from the Czech new wave (Murdering the Devil), rarely seen films from Iran directed by women (The Sealed Soil, Marjan), and a documentary about the "indignity of being a woman in cinema." All the films will get some context as well, introduced by film historians and archivists. Here's what will be playing during Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, with all films playing at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis. Feb. 14: The Brilliant Biograph: Earliest Moving Images of Europe (1897–1902) Feb. 14: Murdering the Devil/Vražda ing. Certa (1970), introduced by Alice Lovejoy Feb. 15: Festa - A trilogy of films by Sarah Maldoror (1979–80), introduced by Joëlle Vitiello Feb. 15: Be Pretty and Shut Up! (1976), introduced by Morgan Adamson Feb. 15: Blow for Blow/Coup pour coup (1972), introduced by Sarah Ann Wells Feb. 16: The Sealed Soil/Khak-e Sar bé Mohr (1977), introduced by Sima Shakhsair Feb. 16: Marjan (1956), introduced by Farzaneh Ebrahimzadeh Holasu Feb. 16: Films from The Albert Samama Chikli Project, introduced by Aboubakar Sanogo Feb. 16: My Grandmother/Chemi bebia (1929), introduced by Michal Kobialka
