The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and New York-based World Cinema Foundation (WCF) have decided to restore the film ‘Nidhanaya’, a Sri Lankan masterpiece.

‘Nidhanaya’ is a 1972 Sinhalese language film directed by Lester James Peries, starring Gamini Fonseka and Malini Fonseka. The movie is based on a story written by G B Senanayake in one of his short story collection known as ‘The Revenge’.

The film would have been lost forever to the world, but for the NFAI, the Pune-based institute’s director Prashant Pathrabe said.

There is no film element available of this title in the whole world, neither with the producer, the right holder nor with the director in Sri Lanka, he said. The only surviving film element was the dupe negative preserved at the NFAI.

The NFAI had preserved it for over three decades and provided it to the WCF for frame by frame restoration. WCF is making a digitally restored print, he said.

The National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka and G R Padmaraj, the copyright holder, readily agreed for the restoration of this milestone of Sri Lankan film industry and WCF chairman and noted film maker Martin Scorcese fully supported the restoration project, he said.

The restoration of the film will be done at Cineteca Bologna in Italy, Pathrabe said.

The NFAI had earlier collaborated with the WCF for the restoration project of the Indian classic film ‘Kalpana’ by late Uday Shankar and the restored version was screened at the last edition of the Cannes Film festival. - PTI