Ray’s banned film to finally see the light of day

Ray in Sikkim

Master director Satyajit Ray may have made it 37 years ago but it is only now that the cine-enthusiasts are about to see his documentary on the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim.
Ray's "Sikkim" which was made in 1971 after being commissioned by the then Chogyal (King) of Sikkim before the stage joined India in 1975.
Interestingly, the documentary had earned the wrath of the then rulers of Sikkim as well as the Indian censor board and the film never saw the light of the day. In fact, all the available prints of the film were destroyed, barring one, which was saved by American film preservationist Josef Lindner. The copy was in the archives of the British Film Academy.
Lindner, who is with the US Academy of Motion Pictures, took great efforts in the US to restore the print of "Sikkim" digitally. The restored version will be shown at the Kolkata Film Festival beginning today.
The US Academy of Motion Pictures has received a grant to restore the only Hindi film made by Ray, "Shatranj Ke Khiladi," starring Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Saeed Jaffrey, Amjad Khan and Victor Banerjee.
Linder is in Kolkata to attend the festival with a package that includes five of Ray's films restored by the Academy: "Jai Baba Felunath," "Teen Kanya," "Parosh Pathor," Aporajito" and "Two.”