Gandhi and Jinnah are evergreen.

Perhaps taking a cue from the renewed interest in these two historic figures, State Information and Public Relations Department have decided to digitalise rare films lying in its record unnoticed for years.

Of the over 300 short films selected to be converted into digital form (DVD), the one depicting a joint appeal for peace by Gandhi and Jinnah during post-partition riot is touted as the rarest.

In the film, a visual appears showing Gandhi and Jinnah, followed by an appeal in Hindi that is in the form of text.

It goes thus: Qaed-e-Azam and Gandhiji have made a joint appeal to the various communities of India.

“Recently, incidents of lawlessness and atrocities have increased, bringing a bad name to the country. Innocents are getting killed.”

This much is legible on the first slide and work is being done on the rest. Unfortunately, the reel of this particular movie is in the worst condition and the best of efforts are being made to save it and convert it into the DVD form.

Mostly of a reel or two, these films are of four to ten-minute duration and were meant to be shown on 36 mm and 16 mm screen.

Revolving around themes like political messages and success stories of eminent personalities, the films were meant to be screened at public gatherings, especially at cinema halls during breaks.

“With the media not being so widespread, it was one of the popular ways to spread the message,” recollects Pradeep Bajpayee, manager, Film Production Department.

... contd.