Bhagwan Das Garga, prominent documentary filmmaker and film historian, was one such man whose untiring efforts ensured that the true stories of Indian cinema were not forgotten The mesmerising medium of cinema leaves millions spellbound but if it was not for those who documented what went behind the camera diligently, these ephemeral joys would be even more short-lived. Bhagwan Das Garga, prominent documentary filmmaker and film historian, was one such man whose untiring efforts ensured that the true stories of Indian cinema were not forgotten. Before his death in 2011, Garga’s memorabilia have been maintained for over 60 years, including 4,614 acquired and 1,195 donated items, to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). The Centre has now made available this treasure to the general public through an exhibition titled ‘A Story Called Cinema: The BD Garga Archives’. The exhibition has images of some of the early pioneers of the film world, including a rare picture of Fatima Begum, the first woman director in India, who directed the movie Bulbul-e-Paristan in 1926. Then there are pictures of many producers, technicians, and artists, who kept the film industry going despite the political pressure and resource crunch. With barely one per cent of the 1,300 films made between 1913 and 1931 surviving, Garga’s collection is a luminous tribute to our rich cinematic past. His memorabilia includes carefully collected and documented works of Alam Ara, India’s first sound film. In his book, So Many Cinemas: The Motion Picture in India, he says: “Even though Alam Ara was not a technical or artistic masterpiece, it was a pioneering venture. Three weeks after this release, first Bengali talkie Jamai Sashti (1931) and Urdu film Shirin-Farhad (1931) emerged from the Madan theatres. JJ Madan and Co. produced no less than 24 talkies over the course of the next two years.” Garga spent many years documenting what he called was the human drama. “Where else in the world is there such a great diversity of human drama and impassioned imagery as in India? This is what makes India one of the most cinematically rich and challenging countries,” he says in his book. At IGNCA, his works have been displayed and curated in a manner that brings alive the era they were created in. “We acquired all his work from him in 2010. This is some of the rarest of rare work,” says Gautam Chatterjee, Media Centre Head at IGNCA, and the man behind the idea of curating and exhibiting the work.

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