Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘PK’ now part of National Film Archive of India Collection

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<strong>There has been a significant addition to the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) collection. Announcing this NFAI said that the original camera negative of Rajkumar Hirani’s film <em>PK</em>, made in 2014 has become part of its collection.</strong></p>
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Hirani is one of the renowned and popular contemporary Indian filmmakers who through his films like <em>3 Idiots, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Munna Bhai MBBS</em> among others has carved a distinct niche for himself.</p>
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The director himself handed over the original camera negative of his <em>PK</em> 2014 film to Prakash Magdum, Director NFAI, in Mumbai on July 6..</p>
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Talking about this handing over of the negative to NFAI, Hirani observed: “It was important to preserve the negative and I am very happy that it would be preserved in NFAI at Pune. It is the duty of a filmmaker to ensure that the films are preserved and I appeal to all filmmakers to support NFAI in this important cause.”</p>
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Magdum who received the negative on behalf of NFAI remarked: “We are happy to continue our association with Mr Hirani as his earlier acclaimed films are also being preserved at NFAI. It is wonderful to add PK in our collection, especially because it was shot on celluloid.”</p>
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Making a significant observation, Magdum added that the transition from celluloid to digital in terms of production of films in India happened during 2013-14. Therefore, it is all the more important to have this film for preservation.</p>
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Besides the original camera negative, about 300 cans consisting of rushes of <em>PK</em> and outtakes of <em>3 Idiots </em>film too were handed over for preservation. Along with this material consisting of posters, lobby cards and photographs of films directed by Hirani would also be handed over to NFAI.</p>
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<em>PK</em>, written, edited and directed by Hirani, is a political satire on Indian society dealing with superstition with a quirky alien character trying his level best to understand the world he has landed in. It was co-produced by Hirani along with Vidhu Vinod Chopra.</p>
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Having studied in Film and Television Institute of India, Hirani’s forte is making light-hearted films dealing with important social issues. Even though his films are good fun to watch and enjoy with clean humour, he ensures that they also discuss contemporary issues while providing a fresh perspective to them.</p>
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Hirani’s original negatives of earlier films like <em>Munnabhai MBBS</em> (2003), <em>Lage Raho Munnabhai</em> (2006) and <em>3 Idiots</em> (2009) are already being preserved at NFAI.</p>