The 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2025), which is currently ongoing in Goa, is set to present 18 restored classics including Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan, Ritwik Ghatak’s Subarnarekha, Kalpana Lajmi’s Rudaali and BN Reddi’s Malleswari. They have been brought back to the screens by the efforts of National Film Archive of India (NFAI) under the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM).
The films have been curated under the Indian Panorama Special Package and has films across languages including Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi cinema, reflecting a vast spectrum of artistic expression preserved with rigorous archival standards.
This year also marks a special landmark for Indian cinema as it celebrates 125 years of noted director V Shantaram, along with 100 years of Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Ritwik Ghatak, Bhupen Hazarika, P Bhanumati, Salil Choudhury, and K Vaikunth. The festival also marks 50 years of NFDC, underscoring its pivotal role in shaping modern Indian cinema.
IFFI 2025 will also have a dedicated showcase of Shyam Benegal’s Susman (1987). The frame-by-frame restoration of the classics have been undertaken with utmost care, with veteran filmmakers' and cinematographers' guidance.
Ritwik Ghatak’s Subarnarekha has been restored from the 35mm master positive in the NFDC–NFAI collection, with final colour grading supervised by cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay. Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan has been restored from a preserved 35mm release print after the original negative deteriorated irreversibly; Ali personally supervised the grading to maintain the film’s distinctive chromatic elegance. His earlier milestone, Gaman, returns in a newly restored version, with missing footage reconstructed from a subtitled archival print.
Additionally, Kalpana Lajmi’s Rudaali and B.N. Reddi’s Malleswari have also bee restored meticulously while preserving textual and visual authenticity. The ongoing festival is also set to celebrate other classics such as Raj Khosla’s C.I.D, Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, and V Shantaram’s Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani which were restored from exiting prints or dupe negatives as the originals were lost or became decomposed over time.
Among them lies one of the most treasured films in history - Baburao Painter’s Muraliwala (1927), one of the few surviving Indian silent films. The film will be presented with a specially curated live musical accompaniment by composer Rahul Ranade in the presence of Baburao Painter’s two surviving daughters.
Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Ek Hota Vidushak, and Kireedam, among other modern-era movies will also be showcased. Ramesh Saigal’s Shaheed (1948) and Mani Ratnam’s Geethanjali (1989) are also part of the curation, establishing that the restorations were done films across various eras, with each film having its own technical and archival challenges.
IFFI this year opened on November 20 and is set to go on until November 28.