FOR THE AGES
Revered Indian actor Waheeda Rehman, who was accorded the Dadasaheb Phalke award, India’s highest film honor, last year, has donated her personal memorabilia to the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) for preservation. Rehman, the 86-year-old grande dame of Indian cinema, has worked with most of the legendary filmmakers of her country during her career and the roles she chose were in films that are considered classics in the annals of Indian cinema. She worked with Guru Dutt in “Pyaasa” (1957) and “Kaagaz Ke Phool” (1959), Satyajit Ray in “Abhijaan” (1962), Basu Bhattacharya in “Teesri Kasam” (1966) and Yash Chopra in “Kabhie Kabhie” (1976), among many other memorable roles.
The donated material includes the saree Rehman wore to the “C.I.D.” premiere in 1956, her photo albums and photographs and lobby cards from “Kaagaz Ke Phool,” “Chaudvin Ka Chand” (1960), “Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam” (1962) “C.I.D.,” “Bees Saal Baad” (1962) and “Baat Ek Raat Ki” (1962). The donation was supported and enabled by Sohail Rekhi and Kashvi Rekhi, the son and daughter of Rehman.
“I’m giving all this to Film Heritage Foundation, because these are very important memories that need to be preserved. People who are interested in learning about films and the history of Indian cinema can look back at this valuable memorabilia that is preserved at the FHF archive. I hope you all do it and will enjoy seeing all these albums,” Rehman said.
FHF director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur added: “It was a very emotional moment for me when she donated her precious personal memorabilia to Film Heritage Foundation and entrusted us with its care and preservation for posterity. She had kept the saree that she wore to the premiere of ‘C.I.D.’ almost seven decades ago and as she leafed through her photo albums, it was a beautiful walk down memory lane and it was as if we were reliving those times with her. As I went through her photo albums filled with stunning black and white images from her iconic films, I was struck by her enduring grace and dignity and reminded once again of her incredible legacy spanning a career of over six decades and am so proud that she chose us as her memory keepers.”
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Elsewhere, some 1,000 radio plays have been returned to the BBC Archives by the Radio Circle, a group of radio enthusiasts and collectors. The plays are made up of reels and home recordings sent in by members of the public. BBC Radio 4, 4 Extra and Radio 3 will feature a season of broadcasts of the recordings, including “Macbeth,” which when it was first broadcast in 1971 was the first ever stereo production of the play. The season also includes adaptations of works by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Edgar Wallace, Kingsley Amis and J.M. Barrie. Radio 4 will also commemorate the BBC Archives by broadcasting two plays by Harold Pinter and Dennis Potter, which have not been heard on BBC Radio since their original broadcasts in the early 1980s.
