The 4K restoration of Kamal Amrohi's 1972 classic Pakeezah made its UK debut at the BFI London Film Festival, drawing a packed audience for the closing gala screening at the BFI IMAX, the UK’s largest cinema screen.
The screening on Sunday sold out within a day of bookings opening, according to a release issued by the Film Heritage Foundation, which undertook the restoration of the iconic film.
The evening began with an introduction by Film Heritage Foundation director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, alongside Tajdar Amrohi and Rukhsaar Amrohi, the son and daughter of the legendary filmmaker.
The subsequent conversation was moderated by Arike Oke, executive director of knowledge and collections at the British Film Institute (BFI).
Kamal Amrohi’s grandson, Bilal Amrohi, who worked closely with the foundation on the restoration, was also present. Fourteen members of the Amrohi family travelled from India to attend the screening.
Dungarpur said restoring Pakeezah had been a long-cherished dream since he established the Film Heritage Foundation in 2014.
“I first watched this film when I was three years old with my grandmother in the cinema. This film is incredibly close to my heart and will always be intertwined with my memories of her. It has been my dream to restore Pakeezah ever since I established the Film Heritage Foundation in 2014.
“Because we did not have the original camera negative and the surviving material was in exceptionally poor condition, seeing it back on the big screen today feels like a miracle. We spent two years painstakingly working on this restoration,” he said.
“The audio element proved to be a significant challenge, but I was determined to do justice to Kamal Amrohi’s magnificent vision. I am profoundly grateful to the BFI for providing such a prestigious global platform to showcase this labour of love,” Dungarpur said while introducing the film to the audience.
Tajdar Amrohi paid tribute to his stepmother, legendary actress Meena Kumari, who died a month after Pakeezah was released in 1972. “My Choti Ammi, Meena Kumari, was in a coma before she passed away. In many ways, the negative of Pakeezah was also in a coma and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has brought it back to life. I am deeply emotional today. I arrived with so many things I intended to say, but standing before this beautiful audience, the words have left me.”
“I simply want to breathe this moment in and restore all of you in my heart forever. Thank you all for coming; I wish I could embrace each one of you. I truly feel the presence of my father here today, blessing us. Our deepest gratitude goes out to Shivendra and the Film Heritage Foundation for their tireless devotion,” he said.
Rukhsaar Amrohi said her father had created an extraordinary work with Pakeezah that deserved to be remembered for generations.
“It is a work for which he deserves to be eternally remembered and honored. I want to thank Shivendra Singh Dungarpur for the sheer dedication that made it possible for us to stand before you today. I am entirely overwhelmed.”
The Film Heritage Foundation’s restoration showcase this year began with Pradip Krishen and Arundhati Roy’s In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was followed by John Abraham’s landmark Malayalam film Amma Ariyan (1986) at the Cannes Film Festival and Dev Benegal’s English, August (1994) at the Venice International Film Festival.