Satyajit Ray’s “Sikkim" running now @Vajra, Gangtok

Gangtok: Satyajit Ray’s documentary film, “Sikkim”, which had its world premiere on 06 April to a select audience in Gangtok will now open for regular screenings from Friday onwards at Vajra cinema hall here.


The Art & Culture Trust of Sikkim, which was instrumental in restoring this lost film made in 1971, in a press release issued today, announced that the movie will screen for one show [5:30 p.m.] every day from 15 to 21 April.

“We were overwhelmed by the response of the audience at the World Premiere on the 6th of April 2011. There has been a constant demand for a regular theater release ever since the premiere. We understand that there is a huge audience waiting and wanting to see the film. We are also aware that the purpose of the restoration of this very rare film carried out by the Art & Culture Trust of Sikkim was to reach out to the maximum Sikkimese people,” the ACT of Sikkim secretary, Atul Kaura explains while announcing the screening schedule.

The film, commissioned by Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, and completed in 1971, was never formally released until last week, its prints lost and then painstakingly restore

Satyajit's Sikkim' releases in Gangtok

GANGTOK: After 40 long years, Satyajit Ray's documentary Sikkim' officially premiered at Vajra Cinema Theatre in Gangtok on Wednesday evening. The auditorium was packed with cinegoers who not only longed to watch a Ray film but were also curious to find out why the documentary had been banned. Canned 40 years ago, the film had got faded but it was restored by Joseph Lidner of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science in California.

While the premiere brought back memories of good old days to the aged viewers, it was an insightful experience for young students, intellectuals, officials and journalists, who got a peek into the Sikkim of yore. Traditional dresses and school uniforms of yesteryears, picturesque surroundings of the capital, not obstructed by highrises, the film gave the elderly viewers reason to get nostalgic. Flashback to 1971, they recalled how the natives walked through cold, hilly regions to reach their agriculture fields or the weekly village haats. People then appeared completely oblivious to all signs of 20th century development happening across the world. The snow-clad mountains, rivers, birds, flowers and orchids exuded the rich wealth of the state against the backdrop of people living with poor facilities of housing and communication. The film also had the palace, its prince and princess in the frame but that in no way diluted Ray's idea of showcasing the inherent beauty of the tiny Himalayan state.

‘Lost’ Sikkim arrives, prints to be showcased in Singapore

The Chogyals’ palace in Gangtok.
Gangtok, Sept. 20: Satyajit Ray’s “lost” documentary Sikkim reached the Himalayan state on September 11 and is now being readied for a preview screening at the Singapore Museum on October 16.

The 35mm documentary was commissioned by the Chogyals, the last rulers of Sikkim, in 1971 and its prints and rights were given to the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim in 2000.

The trust received it from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after restoration almost a week ago.

“The film had been commissioned by the last Chogyal of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, four years before the kingdom became the 22nd state of India in 1975. As the documentary was made during a period of transition in Sikkim, the film never got formally released and the prints became bad. Everyone assumed that the documentary had been banned because it had to do with the monarchy,” said Ugyen Chopel, a filmmaker and a managing trustee of the trust.

Chopel said he had seen the film and it records Sikkim’s history and showcases the state’s natural beauty. “There are five reels and the film is 55-minute long and is in colour. The best part is that the entire commentary in English was rendered by the maestro himself in his unforgettable baritone voice. The background music has also been also composed by Ray,” he said.

After the Singapore screening, a world premiere of the film is being planned for next year. “The film has generated a lot of interest internationally and we are planning to hold a world premiere here sometime in February-March next year. We will approach the state government to make the premiere a grand international event,” said Chopel.

“This is the only film made by the great master that has not been screened publicly and came to be known as ‘Ray’s lost film’. A retrospective of Ray’s films was held when he passed away after being conferred the lifetime achievement Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But Sikkim did not feature in the show,” he said.

Chopel said a print of the film had been found with the British Film Institute in London and through Dilip Basu, the founder-member of the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Centre at the University of California, the Academy was approached for restoration.

“We approached the Central Board of Film Certification and obtained a ‘U’ registration on March 6, 2002, as such an approval was necessary for the restoration. It took eight long years for the Academy to restore the print to the original as the work was tedious and painstaking. The Academy had borne the cost of around $100,000 to restore the film,” said Chopel.

“The job was painstaking as the negatives were missing and a fresh negative had to be prepared frame by frame from the prints which were available with the trust and from the copy that was lying with a private collector in London,” said Chopel.

A package containing the restored prints reached the trust on September 11 from the Academy.

American Academy print key to Sikkim release

The government may have lifted the ban on Satyajit Ray’s controversial documentary Sikkim, made 39 years ago, but it would have to buy a copy of the film’s print from the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences of the US to make it available to the Indian audience.

“If the Indian government wants to make Sikkim available for screening, it will probably have to purchase a copy of the restored print from the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences,” said Satyajit’s filmmaker son Sandip.

Commissioned by the Chogyal (ruler) of Sikkim in the late 1960s, the 52-minute documentary made in 1971 was banned by the government when the Himalayan kingdom merged with India in 1975.

The copyright of the film was later transferred to the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim.

Taking Ray by surprise, Sikkim came under double censorship — first from the Chogyal and then from the India government.

“The king and the queen of Sikkim had objected to a very interesting scene showing a royal feast. The queen Hope Cooke said it was ‘wicked’. So Baba had to cut a few shots but he was not happy with it at all. He had never faced such a situation before,” recalled Sandip.

“Baba was also taken aback when the India government decided to ban Sikkim because it highlighted the monarchy. Baba had always maintained that what the documentary showed was part of history.”

Locating a “workable” print of Sikkim for restoration turned out to be an arduous task.

A print that the Satyajit Ray Society retrieved from the Chogyal’s family was damaged beyond repair. Finally, a print that had made its way to London was traced and restored by the Academy of Motion Picture.

Sandip saw the restored copy a few years back at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in France.

“Sikkim was part of a Satyajit Ray retrospective at the festival that year. It was very nostalgic for me,” said Sandip.

“Baba had been to this festival before, and shooting the documentary had been very difficult for him. We had gone to places like Lachen where it was very difficult to travel at that time. There was no electricity and we would work at night in candlelight. But despite the cuts, I think Sikkim would still be a very interesting documentary to see.”

Satyajit Ray's original "Sikkim" negative perished

Director Sandip Ray, the son of Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, is elated over a government decision to lift a ban on his father's documentary 'Sikkim' after four decades, but rues that the original negative has perished.

"I came to know about the decision through a newspaper. I am very happy that after such a long time this will be done. This was almost unknown to people. No one has ever seen the film," Sandip Ray, 56, told IANS on phone from Kolkata.

He, however, regrets that the original "Sikkim" negative perished long back and there are no prints available now in India.

"No one has the print of the film (in India). There is only one print which has been partly restored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. They have a restoration branch in Los Angeles," said Sandip Ray.

"The original negative is gone. So we don't have the prints of the film yet."

Satyajit Ray made the documentary on Sikkim in 1971. It was commissioned by the last Chogyal (king) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, and his American-born queen Hope Cooke. It was banned soon by the government and remained in the cans after that.

Asked why it was banned, Sandip Ray said: "I think at that time Sikkim was a kingdom; later it became a part of India. So naturally, it shows how it was as a kingdom and it's a part of history. But people remained unaware of that history as it was banned."

Now a decision to lift the ban has been taken, a government source said. The external affairs ministry has recommended it after being consulted by the information and broadcasting ministry. Coming ahead of Satyajit Ray's 90th birth anniversary May 2, 2011, the move has raised hopes that the film can be screened across the country. "If it's shown somewhere next year, we would be really happy," said Sandip Ray.

Satyajit Ray's legacy lives on in his son.

Sandip Ray has written "Aami Aar Feluda", a book on Feluda, the famous Bengali detective created by his father that throws light on the background stories of all Feluda movies and telefilms.

Ray’s Sikkim film sees light of day after 29 years

Gangtok:The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently lifted the ban on Satyajit Ray’s documentary film, Sikkim (1971). Though official sources in the MEA confirm the lifting of the ban on public screening of the film, nobody is willing to go on record. The 60-minute documentary was lying in cold storage after its screening was banned by the government since Sikkim was not officially merged with the Union of India by then.

The two prints of the film are in the US and the British Film Institute. It is believed that the film is a personal favourite of Richard Attenborough, and he made it available for the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences in 2003 to preserve and restore the documentary.

The film will be made available for public screening through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. However, official sources in the ministry say they are not aware of any such developments.

The film was a dream project of the last Chogyal of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, who came to power in 1965 and commissioned the documentary as a means to promote tourism. “His wife, Hope Cooke, was a great fan of my father. She had recommended my father to the king, who asked him to make a documentary on the region,” recalls Ray’s son and filmmaker Sandip Ray, who was 17 at the time of the shooting. During the shooting, Ray stayed at the royal palace in Gangtok.