Watch Celluloid Man

Celluloid Man is a 2012 documentary film directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, featuring the life and work of P.K. Nair, a pioneering film archivist and founder of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). The film explores Nair's journey in collecting and preserving Indian cinema and turning it into an important cultural heritage, and his efforts in helping the nation recognize the value of cinema as an art form.

The movie showcases the different eras of Indian cinema, from black-and-white silent films of the 1910s and 1920s to the colorful musicals of the 1950s and 1960s, and the gritty realism of the parallel cinema movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The film also features interviews with legendary filmmakers, actors, and technicians who have played significant roles in the evolution of Indian cinema, including Shyam Benegal, Mani Kaul, Mrinal Sen, Kamal Haasan, and Dilip Kumar.

The documentary follows Nair's journey from his early days in Kerala, where he discovered a passion for film as a young boy, to his stint at the Film Institute of India in Pune, where he learned about the technical aspects of filmmaking and the importance of film preservation. Nair's fascination with cinema and his commitment to preserving it eventually led him to establish the National Film Archive of India in 1964, thereby starting a new chapter in the history of Indian cinema.

The movie explores Nair's unrelenting dedication to film preservation, often at the cost of his personal life and career. Despite facing many challenges, including lack of funding, infrastructure, and support from the government, Nair persevered in his mission to collect and restore film prints, and to create a safe and secure facility for their storage. The film highlights Nair's crucial role in saving many priceless films that would have otherwise been lost forever, and his innate awareness of how cinema reflects the cultural, social, and political fabric of a nation.

The documentary takes a different turn as it progresses towards the end, with the filmmaker's portrayal of the rapid digitization of cinema, which poses new challenges but also provides new opportunities for film preservation. The film argues that while digitization has made it easier to store and access films, it has also led to a loss of authenticity and historical context, and that the role of film archives and archivists is more important than ever in ensuring that the original versions of films are not lost in translation.

The movie is a tribute to the unsung hero of Indian cinema, P.K. Nair, and to the many people who have dedicated their lives to preserving and promoting cinema as an art form. It is a poignant reminder that cinema is not just a form of entertainment, but also a repository of cultural memory, a mirror of our times, and a means of artistic expression. Celluloid Man is a must-watch for anyone who loves cinema, and for those who wish to understand the history and the significance of Indian cinema.