In a priceless acquisition, the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), after decades of negotiation, has finally succeeding in obtaining a rare original print of the country’s first talkie version of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic novella, Devdas, from the Bangladesh government on Monday.
The 1935 version was filmed in Bengali and was directed by the legendary Pramathesh Barua, who cast himself in the title role of the doomed, narcissistic lover. Mr. Barua’s film was a blistering critique of Indian feudal mores and customs.
Such was Mr. Barua’s passion for the literary classic that he remade it twice, helming it in Hindi in 1936 with iconic singer K.L. Saigal in the role of Devdas and in 1937 again in Assamese, with the renowned theatre actor-playwright Phani Sarma in the titular role.
All Indian prints of this version were lost decades ago in a fire that destroyed the Kolkata-based New Theatres, which produced this film.
A severely mangled copy of the film, the only one, was traced by the NFAI to the Bangladeshi Film archives in the 1970s.
A Bangladeshi delegation led by Ministry of Information Secretary Martuza Ahmad met with NFAI Director Prakash Magdum and handed over the print of the film.
