"Nair sahab's life and dedication inspired me to make 'Celluloid Man' which tells the story of his struggles and triumphs in building the country's first film archives (NFAI). In India, there isn't much culture of preservation, be it old buildings or old cinema, but his work as the collector and guardian of the archives ushered in a new consciousness.
The 46-year-old filmmaker, an alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), considered Nair as his "spiritual father" who instilled in him the desire to "love and live films" and create his labour of love 'Celluloid Man' in 2012 and the FHF, a not-for-profit organisation in 2014.
"We built this foundation inspired by his legacy and in our first workshop in 2015, we honoured him with a lifetime achievement award. His seminal contribution to this field has motivated legends like Amitabh Bachchan to be FHF's brand ambassador and several noted filmmakers endorsing the value of cinematic preservation.
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"It was tragic that his death happened on a day when we were conducting our second annual workshop. But, through this foundation and endeavours like this workshop which brought the world's best archivists and film preservation professionals under one roof, we have trained several future archivists who will help further our mission," he told over phone from Pune.
Born in 1933 in Thiruvanathapuram, Paramesh Krishnan Nair, died in Pune on March 4 after a brief illness, plunging film and cinematic heritage lovers into grief.
Dungarpur's iconic documentary 'Celluloid Man' charted his monumental contribution in building the NFAI literally reel-by-reel in 1964, of which he later became a director.
By the time he retired in 1991, NFAI had 12,000 films in its collection, out of which 8,000 were in Indian languages, the majority being black and white.
May 3, 2013 to mark the 100 years of Indian cinema.
The first Indian film "Raja Harischandra", made by Dadasaheb Phalke, was released on the same day in 1913.
NFAI which has organised a condolence meeting in the premises this morning in honour of Nair, in its tribute said, "He was instrumental in acquiring and preserving the cinematic heritage of the country. It was because of his efforts that early Indian cinema and film history was recognised internationally.
"His successful discovery of films like Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra, Kaliya Mardan laid the foundation for the study of the origins of Indian cinema."
"We have some of the world's best professionals in this field like David Walsh from FIAF, Taina Meller from the George Eastman Museum and others who shared their wealth of experiences with participants that included archival institutions, students and professionals, and have equipped them to handle our fragile cinematic heritage with love and care," he said.
"We are building our own, perhaps the country's biggest non-film archives which includes old photographs, lobby cards, movie tickets, song books and other promotional material.
"It is something we have pioneered in the country and it is all thanks to Nair saab who inspired me to understand the value of cinema, in print and in other tangible forms," he said.
'Celluloid Man' threw a spotlight on loss of historic films like 'Alam Ara' (1931), the first Indian talkie, no known prints of which are said to exist in the country and several other landmark works.
Expounding on the idea of preservation, he says it must be three-fold, and the workshop aims to build those sensibilities among its participants and people in general.
"An archive will survive only if it is properly preserved, catalogued and made accessible to people to share and celebrate it, otherwise they die in vaults and store rooms, as is the case with many institutions in India, government or private. Also, the access to archives is so poor, people don't know their history, let alone respect it," he said.