KIFF Special: 3 Ray films set for restoration, Uttam Kumar next

For any cinephile, a film festival like the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is like a window to world cinema and a chance to catch the latest buzz-makers from Cannes, Busan, Toronto or Venice. But it’s also a space where timeless classics return to the big screen. Take Satyajit Ray’s cult classic ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ (1970). Four city friends, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh and Samit Bhanja, escape to the wilderness, only to come face-to-face with their own insecurities. For film enthusiast Ritojit Mitra, who’s seen the film more times than he can count, watching the iconic ‘memory game’ scene once again on the big screen at Nandan was nothing short of surreal. The film, recently restored in 4K, had already wowed audiences at the 78th Cannes Film Festival before arriving at KIFF.

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation, ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is close to the heart of Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, the founder of Film Heritage Foundation. “It’s one of my favourite Ray films and working on its restoration was an incredible experience,” he said at KIFF, where he was also present for the special screening of Bimal Roy’s iconic ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ (1953). The 4K restored version of Roy’s masterpiece premiered at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and was screened at KIFF as part of the centenary tribute to music composer Salil Chowdhury. The screening was attended by Chowdhury’s daughter Antara, Roy’s son Joy Bimal Roy, alongside Dungarpur.

Another gem in the ‘Restored Classics’ section at 31st KIFF is ‘Badnam Basti’, the 1971 film directed by Prem Kapoor, which is often described as India’s first homosexual film. The 1978 Sri Lankan drama ‘Gehenu Lamai’ also features in this special section.

Dungarpur, who had earlier restored Uday Shankar’s iconic ‘Kalpana’, also screened at KIFF in 2017, shared that he is currently working on three more Ray films, namely ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’, ‘Pratidwandi’ and ‘Kanchenjungha’, Ray’s first colour film.

Meanwhile, next year marks the birth centenary of the legendary Uttam Kumar and Dungarpur revealed that plans are already underway to restore several of the matinee idol’s films and screen them at KIFF 2026 as part of a grand centenary celebration.