1948 film Kalpana stuck in Customs godown

23 Jul 2012

Hollywood bigwig Martin Scorsese teaming up with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur to digitally enhance Uday Shankar's film Kalpana was big news last year. The film which was even screened at Cannes after restoration has however run into trouble post the legal hassles it faced over its Indian release.

In fact it is now learnt that a restored print of the 1948 classic is apparently being held at a suburban location with the Customs, in a postal godown since the last three weeks. The restored film was scheduled to be handed over to National Film Archives of India (NFAI) in Pune.

However, the reason behind this delay is the Custom department's apparent lethargic attitude towards the much- awaited parcel.

Dungarpur alleges that despite having already cleared the dues stipulated by the authorities, he hasn't received the print. Adding that despite the package bearing the official chapa on it, the word 'restored' on the parcel is what's bothering the Customs.

The sad part however is that the 35 mm dupe negative is the only surviving copy of the film, along with it a 35mm positive restored print and is currently in the same godown in Jogeshwari.