KOCHI: Beneath the halls of Chitranjali studio, where creativity and shadows interact, there exists a museum. And within its depths lies a vault, where films of untold tales reside. The studio harbours numerous completed movies that have never seen the light of day. These forgotten works, painstakingly crafted by unknown directors, are gathering dust on a shelf, untouched and unnoticed. A remnant of their creators’ struggles, whose dreams and hard work have seemingly gone in vain.
These unreleased films have gone through rigorous shooting, editing, sound and post-production. They now lie locked up in a negative vault, shielded from public view. There are around 25-30 unreleased works in the vault. The forgotten titles include Swapnangalil Hazel Mary by George Kithu. Khilafat, Karuva Paiya, Nellaipattanam are some others. Due to mysterious delays and a lack of funding, these never reached the theatres.
“Lack of resources is a common enemy at the root of this situation. Due to a lack of funding, many works have failed to reach the big screen. Conflicts between producers and directors widen the gap. Some promising scripts go unproduced because there aren’t enough available artists,” says studio manager D Satheesh.
“In a cruel twist of fate, film negatives frequently need financial support when they are sent to distant benefactors. Due to past-due payments, producers struggle to meet their financial responsibilities. And gradually, these shackles foil the development and release of these cinematic dreams,” he adds.
Retheesh, another worker here, adds another tragic side. “Filmmakers, whose lives revolve around their craft and dreams of seeing their work on the silver screen, often find themselves emotionally shattered when they face multiple setbacks. After enduring financial hardships and battling overwhelming disappointment, some filmmakers have tragically chosen to end their lives,” he says.
Is there a chance to unfold these negatives and give life to some of the promising treasures here? Most of them were captured using cameras that recorded 24 frames per second, says Jayachandra Krishna, an editor who works at the studio. “They leave behind a negative representation of each image on a filmstrip. The once-established procedures for screening movies, involving reels and projectors, have been replaced by more efficient and error-free digital processes. As a result, these unreleased films remain trapped,” he says.
No matter the format, films have to be kept in a cold climate. Otherwise, due to humidity and temperature, the films will decay. However, filmmaker Vijay Menon, the son of late director, producer and writer, P Venu, is optimistic. “Hollywood film director Martin Scorsese has been involved in restoring old movies. He is retrieving and colourising them, thereby preserving the prints,” he says.
Film Heritage Foundation, an NGO based in Mumbai, along with Hollywood director Martin Scorsese’s non-profit The Film Foundation, has restored ace filmmaker Aravindan Govindan’s timeless classic ‘Kummatty’.
“It’s essential for someone with influence, whether an individual or the government, to step forward and initiate the restoration of these old movies. There is a high likelihood of discovering hidden treasures within the vault, stories that surpass our wildest dreams. Releasing them in theatres might not be the primary focus. Instead OTT platforms can provide an avenue for their release. The potential profitability might pose a challenge but only someone with a genuine passion for cinema can make this happen in reality,” he says.
According to ace filmmaker Sibi Malayil, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) is responsible for such an endeavour. “I don’t know about all the films, but many classics have been digitised and preserved. If KSFDC decides and makes an effort, then only can we solve this problem. Also if the films are released we don’t know whether they will be profitable or not,” he says.
“Another thing is, these films should meet the quality to make them public,” he adds. In the South Indian film industry, Chitranjali is not the only studio struggling with a backlog of unreleased movies. Other well-known studios have come into ownership of closed vaults containing a treasure trove of cinema, including Prasad Studios and Gemini Studios.
‘Producers’ responsibility’
Chairman of KSFDC Shaji N Karun says the organisation is currently working on transferring recognisable film negatives to the National Film Archive of India. “Unfortunately, many negatives, including that of my film Piravi, have started to decay. Preserving them is a complex and challenging process, involving several careful procedures. And I think restoring these unreleased movies should be the responsibility of their producers,” he says.