‘Do Bigha Zamin’ Preservationist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur Details Venice-Bound Restoration of Bimal Roy Classic

With the 4K restoration of master Bimal Roy‘s “Do Bigha Zamin” (Two Acres of Land) set for its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival‘s Classics section, India’s Film Heritage Foundation director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is reflecting on the monumental effort to restore the 1953 Indian cinema landmark — and why the film remains essential viewing seven decades later.

“Bimal Roy made ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ two years before Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali,’” Dungarpur tells Variety. “Satyajit Ray said about Bimal Roy that he was able to sweep aside the cobwebs of the old tradition and introduce a realism and subtlety that was wholly suited to the cinema.”

For Dungarpur, Roy’s film represents cinema’s power to endure across generations. “The deep humanism and compassion that he showed in the film highlighted the plight of the marginalized, the issues of the migrant labor, and the urban-rural divide that are still so relevant today.”

The restoration, completed in partnership with Criterion Collection and Janus Films, presented formidable technical challenges over its three-year journey. “The original camera negative that was at the National Film Archive of India was not complete and it was also not in great condition,” Dungarpur explains. “We checked with the British Film Institute and found that they had a 35mm combined dupe negative from 1954-1955 which was complete.”

Audio proved particularly problematic. “The sound was a challenge as there were many portions where the sound was missing and there was a lot of disturbance. A lot of work had to be done to restore the sound.”

Roy’s film, inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves,” tells the story of a poor farmer forced to move to the city as a rickshaw-puller to save his land from a rapacious landlord. The connection between Italian neo-realism and Indian social cinema wasn’t lost on Dungarpur.

“‘Bicycle Thieves’ had a deep impact not just on Bimal Roy but also other Indian filmmakers like Raj Kapoor,” he notes. “The Italian neo-realist movement grew out of the ravages of the Second World War, while Indian social realism emerged after Partition in a newly independent India that was grappling with its own issues of migration, displacement, urbanization, poverty and corruption.”

The film marked a radical departure from Indian cinema’s studio-bound traditions. “Till ‘Do Bigha Zamin,’ the films of the time were usually shot in studios, melodrama and mannered acting was the order of the day,” Dungarpur observes. “With ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ he showed his contemporaries that films could be shot out of the studio and in the streets.”

“Do Bigha Zamin” fits into Film Heritage Foundation’s broader mission to preserve endangered Indian cinema across multiple languages and regions. Recent restorations include the Odia film “Maya Miriga” (1984), Aribam Syam Sharma’s Manipuri film “Ishanou” (1990) and Shyam Benegal’s “Manthan” (1976).

“‘Do Bigha Zamin’ is a landmark film of Indian cinema and I was always very keen that films of Bimal Roy should be restored,” Dungarpur says. “Each one of his films whether it’s ‘Madhumati,’ ‘Bandini’ or ‘Devdas’ are milestone films in Indian cinema.”

The collaboration with Criterion and Janus ensures the film reaches international audiences with proper context and presentation. “I am glad that Criterion Collection/Janus Films agreed to come on board to restore and distribute the Bimal Roy films,” he says. “In this way we have ensured that Bimal Roy’s legacy will survive for posterity.”

He praises the partners’ approach: “Criterion Collection/Janus Films play a crucial role not just in restoring films, but they celebrate the works by the quality of their restoration, their special features and outstanding packaging, inviting the interest of new audiences and making them accessible to future generations.”

The film will be presented at Venice by Roy’s family, including daughters Rinki Roy Bhattacharya and Aparajita Roy Sinha, son Joy Bimal Roy and Dungarpur.

Looking ahead, Film Heritage Foundation has a full slate of upcoming restorations, including John Abraham’s Malayalam film “Amma Ariyan” (1986), Pradip Krishen and Arundhati Roy’s “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” (1989), Pattabhirama Reddy’s Kannada film “Samskara” (1970), and Kamal Amrohi’s “Pakeezah” (1972).

The restored “Do Bigha Zamin,” which won the Prix International at Cannes in 1954, serves as both historical artifact and contemporary mirror. At its heart, Dungarpur suggests, lies a universal truth: “At the heart of both the neo-realist films and the social realism in Indian cinema is a humane and compassionate view of humanity and its frailties.”

Founded in 2014, Film Heritage Foundation is a Mumbai-based non-profit dedicated to film preservation and restoration, with a growing collection of 700 films and 200,000 pieces of film-related memorabilia.