SHOCKING: Pooja Bhatt reveals Mahesh Bhatt almost gave away his Filmfare Awards to a student: “I GRABBED them from him!”; also rescued RARE Sadak, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and Sir continuity albums from rotting in Vishesh Films’ boxes

Pooja Bhatt had a fascinating conversation with film archivist and author S M M Ausaja on her podcast, The Pooja Bhatt Show. Ausaja spoke about building one of the largest private archives of film memorabilia and much more. He also lamented the lack of will within the Indian film industry to save and preserve artefacts from films of yesteryear.

S M M Ausaja revealed, “A lot of second-generation members of film families are not interested in what their forefathers accomplished. So, when a top producer passes away, the family throws everything away as raddi. That’s what happens. I won’t reveal the name, but there was a particular top star whose jubilee trophies, awards, citations and other memorabilia were given away to a raddiwallah after he passed away!”

Pooja Bhatt added, “Well, my father (Mahesh Bhatt) was giving away his Filmfare Awards to some student just like that! So, I said, ‘Nooo’ (laughs)! I grabbed them from him, and I have kept those awards in my home. He asked me, ‘What are you going to do with it?’. I replied, ‘I want to keep them. Thank you very much’!”

She further said, “I have rescued so many continuity albums which we used to have from the Vishesh Films’ petti’s because they were literally rotting there. They contain material from Sadak (1991), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), Sir (1993), etc. Maine aise hi utha ke le liya. I said ‘Mujhe chahiye’. So, I have saved them. A lot of pages are stuck together. I don’t know how to fix some of them. But I’ve rescued them.”

S M M Ausaja also spoke about the discouraging acquisition system at the National Film Archive. He stated, “If I am a collector and have acquired something extremely rare, I travel all the way to Pune to take it to the National Film Archive. For a poster or booklet that cannot be found anywhere else in the world, I’d be lucky if they offered me Rs. 100! That was my experience in the 1990s. I don’t know whether they have increased the rates since then, but such a paltry sum wouldn’t even cover my fuel costs. How do you expect the institution to function? It is entirely dependent on freebies donated by producers.”

Also Read: Pooja Bhatt SLAMS Delhi University’s advisory asking students to avoid Jantar Mantar protests: “Support their right to speak out”

from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama