“We may live in a digital age, but we live in an analog world. For me, analog remains a powerful storytelling tool,” said filmmaker Christopher Nolan, a strong advocate of celluloid, during his visit to Mumbai in 2018. He shot portions of Tenet in the city a year later, but his first visit was specially dedicated to promoting the cause of film preservation and thus, supporting filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is the latest to support film preservation initiated by the foundation.

Talking to Bombay Times from London, Sonam says, “They’re doing such a wonderful job. In just a few years, they have built a movement for film preservation and I felt it was very important for me to support a cause that is committed to preserving our film legacy. As an actor and even a cinema lover, I would always want to go back to cinema from any era and learn from it.”

The actress explains, “In India, films are a religion and that’s for a reason. They are an important part of all of our lives, right from our childhood to our growing up years. As audiences and cinema lovers, it’s our responsibility to preserve and restore our cinema for the future generations. There are many classics of Indian cinema that are lost and many that need to be preserved. Sadly, as we have not preserved our films, we don’t get to watch these movies beautifully restored as they should be. We must conserve it for more people to come and see our culture, our cinema and the beautiful light that these films bring in our lives.”

Looking at films on a broader perspective, she adds, “Films give us hope, happiness, love and sometimes, even the courage to lead our lives the way we deep down want to. Hindi cinema has played a very important role in shaping our society so it’s important we secure it and conserve it for the future. I’m really honoured to be associated with this foundation.”

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