P K Nair a Film Scholar is No More

Paramesh Krishnan Nair the India՚s groundbreaking film archivist and film scholar has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra at the age of 82 years. He was famously known as celluloid man for his lifelong dedication towards the acquisition and preservation of cinematic heritage of the country.

In 1964 he has founded National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune.

About Paramesh Krishnan Nair:

  • He was born in 1933 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
  • In 1940s his interest in films has begun after seeing Tamil mythological dramas such as Bhakta Prahlada and Ananthasayanam.
  • In 1965 he has started his career as assistant curator in the NFAI and after 17 years he appointed as director NFAI in 1982.
  • During his career he had collected and archived over 12,000 films of which 8,000 were Indian over three decades of career with NFAI till his retirement 1991.
  • After his retirement in 1991 he continued to support NFAI in film preservation and film archiving.
  • He was also involved in commercializing the culture of film literacy throughout India through the film appreciation courses.

He was also involved in obtaining the archive several landmark Indian films like Dadasaheb Phalke՚s Raja Harishchandraand Kaliya Mardan and also works for legendary filmmakers such as

  • Satyajit Ray
  • Mrinal Sen
  • Ritwik Ghatak
  • V. Shantaram
  • Raj Kapoor
  • Guru Dutt

In 2012, his life based film stared by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur had made an award-winning works.

Because of his lifelong Contribution to the preservation of films in India he was famously known as the Henri Langlois of India.

Awards:

  • Satyajit Ray in 2008
  • Best Biographical Film and Best Editing at 60th National Film Awards

Examrace Team at Mar 7, 2016