Restored Do Bigha Zamin to premiere at Venice
Do Bigha Zamin (1953) marked a turning point in Indian cinema. While most films of that era were shot within the confines of a studio, director Bimal Roy broke the mould and took the camera to the streets, paving the way for realism in Indian filmmaking. Now the film, restored by the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), the Criterion Collection and Janus Films, will be screened at the Venice Film Festival’s Classics section.
Gulzar, who worked with Roy, spoke to us about the film’s legacy. “It’s amazing that Do Bigha Zamin is restored and will be shown in Venice. The most important element is that all of his films were based on literature. Not many people know that Do Bigha Zamin is based on a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, with the same title.”
How was the film restored
Do Bigha Zamin was restored in 4K by the Criterion Collection and Janus Films, in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation, at L’Immagine Ritrovata and Resillion, and in association with the Bimal Roy family.
The restoration process took over three years. It began in 2022, when the Criterion Collection/Janus Films and Film Heritage Foundation initiated the project. The FHF accessed the original camera negative and sound negative, which had been deposited by the Bimal Roy family at the NFDC–National Film Archive of India (NFAI) for preservation.
However, the sound negative presented several issues, including poor audio quality, interrupted dialogues, and missing sections. The original camera negative was also incomplete. A combined dupe negative - on Dupont/Kodak stock from 1954–55 was found at the British Film Institute (BFI) which was also used for the restoration
The restoration drew from the best surviving elements the 35 mm picture and sound negatives preserved at NFAI and the 35 mm combined dupe negative from the BFI.
Bimal da was the coolest director I have ever seen: Gulzar
I started working with Bimalda, who we used to call Dada, from the film “Kabuliwala” when I was his chief assistant. I have very fond memories of that time. People would say that Bimal-da was like a married print. In those days, the picture and sound negatives were separate and when they were brought together optically to make the release print, it would be called
a married print.
Bimal-da would shoot two shifts in a day – 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm and would then sit in the editing room working till late night at Mohan Studios. People would say that he is married to films.
Bimal da was the coolest director I have ever seen. I learnt not only filmmaking from him, but the art of patience and stamina.
I am sharing a poetic portrait that I wrote on Bimal-da.
"The softly flowing river face shrouded in the evening mists
Eyes burning in the mistiness of a tawny visage
The spiral of smoke from the endlessly burning cigarette
The faraway voice heavy with sleep.
Shadowed below unknown thoughts that flew above
A face that seemed etched out of molten wax
The sound of every new dream transforms him
Making it seem he would neither sleep, nor wake, nor speak
A silent flowing river shrouded in evening mists."
(From the book “Caged . . .Memories Have Names”)
'Do Bigha Zamin changed the face of Indian cinema: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of Film Heritage Foundation
Do Bigha Zamin changed the face of Indian cinema that brought filmmakers out of the studio to begin shooting on the streets. I am so happy that we were able to collaborate with The Criterion Collection / Janus Films to restore not only Do Bigha Zamin, but other classics of Bimal Roy like Devdas, Madhumati and Bandini, which are in the process of being restored.”
Do Bigha Zamin, is an unspoken autobiography of Bimal Roy: Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, Aparajita Roy Sinha, Joy Bimal Roy
After watching Vittorio De Sica’s film Bicycle Thieves, our father hoped Indian films would follow its deeply moving humanist vision. Do Bigha Zamin, is an unspoken autobiography of Bimal Roy who was cast off from his home in East Bengal in a similar episode like the hero, peasant, Sambhu Mahato. He never recovered from this cruel separation from his beloved birthplace.
Satyajit Ray on “Do Bigha Zamin”
“With his very first film Udayer Pathe (Humrahi in Hindi), Bimal Roy was able to sweep aside the cobwebs of the old tradition and introduce a realism and subtlety that was wholly suited to the cinema. He was undoubtedly a pioneer. He reached his peak with a film that still reverberates in the minds of those who saw it when it was first made. I refer to Do Bigha Zamin, which remains one of the landmarks of Indian cinema.”
Raj Kapoor on “Do Bigha Zamin”
Perhaps the best compliment came from Raj Kapoor, who upon watching the film, reportedly said, “I wish I had made this film.”
How was the film restored
Do Bigha Zamin was restored in 4K by the Criterion Collection and Janus Films, in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation, at L’Immagine Ritrovata and Resillion, and in association with the Bimal Roy family.
The restoration process took over three years. It began in 2022, when the Criterion Collection/Janus Films and Film Heritage Foundation initiated the project. The FHF accessed the original camera negative and sound negative, which had been deposited by the Bimal Roy family at the NFDC–National Film Archive of India (NFAI) for preservation.
However, the sound negative presented several issues, including poor audio quality, interrupted dialogues, and missing sections. The original camera negative was also incomplete. A combined dupe negative - on Dupont/Kodak stock from 1954–55 was found at the British Film Institute (BFI) which was also used for the restoration
The restoration drew from the best surviving elements the 35 mm picture and sound negatives preserved at NFAI and the 35 mm combined dupe negative from the BFI.
Bimal da was the coolest director I have ever seen: Gulzar
I started working with Bimalda, who we used to call Dada, from the film “Kabuliwala” when I was his chief assistant. I have very fond memories of that time. People would say that Bimal-da was like a married print. In those days, the picture and sound negatives were separate and when they were brought together optically to make the release print, it would be called
Bimal-da would shoot two shifts in a day – 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm and would then sit in the editing room working till late night at Mohan Studios. People would say that he is married to films.
Bimal da was the coolest director I have ever seen. I learnt not only filmmaking from him, but the art of patience and stamina.
I am sharing a poetic portrait that I wrote on Bimal-da.
"The softly flowing river face shrouded in the evening mists
Eyes burning in the mistiness of a tawny visage
The spiral of smoke from the endlessly burning cigarette
The faraway voice heavy with sleep.
Shadowed below unknown thoughts that flew above
A face that seemed etched out of molten wax
The sound of every new dream transforms him
Making it seem he would neither sleep, nor wake, nor speak
(From the book “Caged . . .Memories Have Names”)
'Do Bigha Zamin changed the face of Indian cinema: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of Film Heritage Foundation
Do Bigha Zamin changed the face of Indian cinema that brought filmmakers out of the studio to begin shooting on the streets. I am so happy that we were able to collaborate with The Criterion Collection / Janus Films to restore not only Do Bigha Zamin, but other classics of Bimal Roy like Devdas, Madhumati and Bandini, which are in the process of being restored.”
Do Bigha Zamin, is an unspoken autobiography of Bimal Roy: Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, Aparajita Roy Sinha, Joy Bimal Roy
After watching Vittorio De Sica’s film Bicycle Thieves, our father hoped Indian films would follow its deeply moving humanist vision. Do Bigha Zamin, is an unspoken autobiography of Bimal Roy who was cast off from his home in East Bengal in a similar episode like the hero, peasant, Sambhu Mahato. He never recovered from this cruel separation from his beloved birthplace.
Satyajit Ray on “Do Bigha Zamin”
“With his very first film Udayer Pathe (Humrahi in Hindi), Bimal Roy was able to sweep aside the cobwebs of the old tradition and introduce a realism and subtlety that was wholly suited to the cinema. He was undoubtedly a pioneer. He reached his peak with a film that still reverberates in the minds of those who saw it when it was first made. I refer to Do Bigha Zamin, which remains one of the landmarks of Indian cinema.”
Raj Kapoor on “Do Bigha Zamin”
Perhaps the best compliment came from Raj Kapoor, who upon watching the film, reportedly said, “I wish I had made this film.”
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