Never seen ‘Lagaan’ on the big screen? You now have three days to fix that
233 minutes. Eight National Awards. One Oscar nomination. India has not stopped talking about it since 2001. Now you can watch it the way it was meant to be seen.
Over seventy years after it first moved audiences with its raw portrayal of poverty and hope, ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ is returning to the global stage; this time, restored in 4K.
The classic 1953 film directed by Bimal Roy will have its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, bringing one of Indian cinema’s most iconic works to a new generation of viewers.
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The announcement of the premiere came out on the occasion of what would have been Bimal Roy’s 116th birthday. The restoration was carried out by the Film Heritage Foundation, working in collaboration with The Criterion Collection and Janus Films.
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Members of Bimal Roy’s family, including his daughters Rinki Roy Bhattacharya and Aparajita Roy Sinha, and son Joy Bimal Roy, are likely to attend the premiere along with Film Heritage Foundation director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
Originally released in 1953, ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ is a cornerstone of Indian neorealism. Inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s ‘Bicycle Thieves’, the film captures the struggles of a small farmer forced to migrate to the city in a desperate bid to save his land.
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With Balraj Sahni’s stirring performance at its heart, the story unfolds with stark realism, highlighting themes of displacement, injustice, and the resilience of the human spirit.
At the time of its release, the film broke new ground. It became the first Indian film to win the prestigious Prix International at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954.
It also received accolades at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and swept the first-ever Filmfare Awards in India, taking home Best Film and Best Director.
The painstaking restoration process began in 2022 and took over three years to complete. The team worked with original film negatives sourced from the National Film Archive of India and the British Film Institute.
Celebrated filmmaker and lyricist Gulzar, who began his film journey under Bimal Roy’s mentorship, reflected on the importance of Roy’s work.
Roy’s career, though tragically cut short in 1966 at the age of 56, continues to influence generations of filmmakers.
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