A round table with Indian cinema’s biggies like Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan, 70mm screening of Dunkirk and a discussion on film preservation are on the cards...
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; March 21, 2018)

Christopher Nolan will be in India soon. Accompanied by his wife, film producer Emma Thomas, the Oscar-winning director-screenwriter and one of the most critically and commercially-acclaimed filmmakers of our time, known for his distinctive cinematic style (Dunkirk, Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy, The Prestige and Memento), will arrive in the city on March 29 and be here till April 1. On March 30, there will be a private dinner hosted in his honour. After completing his work commitments, he will head to an undisclosed destination in India to explore the country. To those unaware, Nolan had shot a key sequence of The Dark Knight Rises in Jodhpur.

PURPOSE OF THE VISIT
Nolan’s primary reason for making this much-awaited visit is his passion for shooting on film. One of the strongest voices to advocate the necessity of using film over digital technology and preserving the photochemical film in the digital age, Nolan and visual artist Tacita Dean along with the Film Heritage Foundation, founded by filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, will present ‘Reframing The Future Of Film’, a global initiative that supports the cause of film preservation. Directors like Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and many others swear by the traditional 70mm (wide high-resolution film gauge that was once used to make classics like Lawrence Of Arabia, 1962). In an earlier interview, the director had said, “I have been a long-time proponent of film – particularly the IMAX film format — as a storytelling medium. The immersive quality of the image is second to none, drawing the audience into the action in the most intense way possible.”

INDIAN ACTORS AND ARTISTES IN ATTENDANCE
Around 35 renowned Indian artistes and influencers from the world of cinema, art and preservation will meet Nolan and Tacita on March 31. Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Shyam Benegal and Santosh Sivan, to name a few, will have an elaborate two-hour discussion with the Dunkirk director. Shah Rukh Khan is also likely to be a part of this gathering.

NOT PURSUING NOLAN!
Interestingly, contrary to popular belief, both Nolan and Tacita were not pursued by Shivendra; it was the other way round. Nolan’s team wrote to the Indian filmmaker about how they wanted to support his cause of preserving the film in the digital era. Shivendra reveals, “It’s an honour that Christopher Nolan and Tacita chose and acknowledged the work of our foundation. This will help more people to join in and support the cause.” Sources claim that the British filmmaker hasn’t charged a penny for himself or his entourage, if any. Meanwhile, Nolan said in a statement, “India has such wonderful cinema and rich history of art that everything needs to be done not only to encourage its proper preservation for future generations, but also to reintroduce the film medium to the younger artistes and filmmakers in the country.”

SPECIAL SCREENING OF DUNKIRK
Nolan will be present to introduce the special 70 mm IMAX film screening of the Academy Award-winning film Dunkirk in Mumbai for the first time. Special arrangements have been made to refit 70 mm projectors and the screen, and to ship the print to India from the US, especially for this onetime screening.