A silent era restored classic 'Shiraz: A Romance of India', which had its world premier at the 61st BFI London Film Festival, will now tour four Indian cities as part of the UK/India 2017 Year of Culture.
The film screening will be part of the year-long celebration of the long-standing relationship between India and the UK, the British Council and the British Film Institute (BFI) today said.
A world leader in film restoration, the BFI holds the negatives of the film, Franz Ostens Indian silent classic made in 1928, has been meticulously re-mastered by the conservation team at the BFI National Archive.
After being screened at the BFI LFF on October 14, the film will be shown in Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai from November 1 to 5, accompanied by live performance of a specially-commissioned score by Grammy-nominated leading contemporary composer and sitar player, Anoushka Shankar and an orchestral ensemble, a British Council release said.
'Shiraz' tells the love story of the 17th century royals Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal and subsequent construction of the Taj Mahal.
For the modern viewer, the appeal of 'Shiraz' is the rarity of a sophisticated silent feature film made outside the major producing nations of the West, the gorgeous settings, costumes and the glories of the spectacular Agra fort and the Taj Mahal.
'Shiraz' was adapted from Niranjan Pals play, the first Indian playwright to have his work performed in the West End.
Following the Indian tour 'Shiraz' will be screened around the UK in January 2018 and be released on Blu-ray by the BFI.
On bringing 'Shiraz' back to audience in India, BFI Head Curator Robin Baker said the restored film was the culmination of thousands of hours of toil at the BFI National Archive to ensure that it was safely preserved for the future generation. A few Indian silent films had survived which made 'Shiraz' important and precious.
"It seems particularly befitting that in this UK-India Year of Culture 2017 we celebrate with a film that brought together talents from India and the UK 90 years ago," he said.
Anoushka has encouraged cross-cultural dialogue while playing sitar, the British Council said.
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