Mahatma Gandhi's 30 reels of unedited footage discovered by NFAI

A few days before the upcoming 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has found nearly 30 reels of unedited footage that features Mahatma Gandhi in almost six hours of video. These footages are often used by prominent studios like Paramount, Pathe, Warner, Universal, British Movietone, Wadia Movietone and many more. Also, these 35mm celluloid, unedited, sock shots were preserved with title cards. NFAI has tweeted a frame of Mahatma Gandhi that they found from the videos. 

NFAI director on the discovery of the footages 

The director of NFAI, Prakash Magdum, has expressed happiness over this wonderful discovery. He said, “It is indeed a very great discovery for NFAI coming at a time when the entire world is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. There seems to be some rare footage in this collection while many visuals are now part of short films and documentaries available. Some of these shots have been used but some visuals seem unique." The official account of NFAI also shared the pictures of the reel on their Twitter handle. 

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Highlights from the discovered footages 

One of the main footages discovered in these reels is a footage of the train, which is carrying the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi from Madras (now Chennai) to Rameshwaram. The visuals show as many as thousand people gathered at the stations like Chettinad, Sivaganga, Chidambaram, Manamadurai junction, Ramnad and Pudukkottai junctions in Tamil Nadu. Hands folded and trying to catch a glimpse, these people are looking teary-eyed in the video footage. Apart from the funeral, the visuals also include close-ups of his body and blood-stained clothes, newspaper reports of the day, Birla House, and the procession to Raj Ghat. Another important footage shows Mahatma's South India tour and Harijan Yatra in January-February 1946. Footage also shows the 25-year celebration of Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha.  

(With ANI Inputs)

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