The National Film Archives of India (NFAI) has acquired a copy of the first talkie movie made in 1935, Devdas, from the Bangladesh Film Archive. The Bengali movie, directed by Prathmesh C Barua, was not available in India till now and the NFAI's efforts have resulted in acquiring it in a DVD format. “This is a landmark moment in the history of the film archive as this was an important film for Indian heritage and an important addition to our collection,“ said NFAI director Prakash Magdum.

A three-member Bangladeshi delegation, led by Martuza Ahmed, secretary in the ministry of information, visited NFAI to study the Indian film archive and visit its state-of-the-art film storage facilities in Pune. During the visit, the delegation presented a DVD copy of the 1935 film in exchange for a copy of India's first silent feature film Raja Harishchandra, directed by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913, marking the birth of Indian cinema. All the Indian prints of the Bengali version of Devdas were destroyed decades ago. Currently, there is only one copy available, which belonged to the Bangladesh Film Archive (BFA). BFA director general Mohammad Jahangir Hossain said India was looking for the Devdas copy for 30 years. The film exchange was possible due to special efforts taken by both the archives in recognising the need to extend support towards promoting the film heritage of both nations.The NFAI has five versions of Devdas, including four Hindi versions (1935, 1955, 2002, 2009) and one Telugu version (1953).