Recognise people working behind the scenes: Naseeruddin Shah

Mumbai: They have spent their entire life in a dark room to entertain and need to be applauded, actor Naseeruddin Shah said at an event to honour three projectionists while also pointing to the "bitter truth" of an industry that often does not recognise those who work behind the scenes.

It is disheartening that people who play a pivotal role in a film's success are not recognised in the film industry for their contribution, Shah said Wednesday evening at the event organised by the Film Heritage Foundation.

The veteran actor, who was chief guest at the evening where audiences also watched a rerun of filmmaker Kamal Amrohi's 1949 movie "Mahal", lauded the not-for-profit organisation for recognising the work of film projectionists.

The FHF awarded projectionist Lakhan Lal Yadav from Raipur, P A Salam from Pune's National Film Archives of India (NFAI), and Mohammed Aslam Fakih of Regal Cinema, Mumbai, with the lifetime achievement award and Rs 50,000 each.

"They have spent their entire life in a dark room for all of us, to entertain us, we should applaud them," the veteran actor said.

"I am thankful to Shivendra Dungarpur (FHF founder) and his team for recognising these people. I am here as an audience, I am grateful to have met and interacted with them," he added.

The screen icon said the movie industry neglects the hard work and contribution of technicians and other important people.

"The bitter truth of the film industry is that those who work hard a lot during the making of the film, like light men and others, their income is not much. This is the nature of the beast. The issue is this thing remains the same even post the release of the movie.

"For instance, if a film is successful, then distributors and exhibitors take the major share of the profit. Those who help achieve this (success), no one cares about them. They are not even awarded," Shah said at south Mumbai's Regal Cinema.

The event was followed by a special screening of "Mahal", starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala. The film revolved around an aristocrat (Kumar) who moves into an ancient mansion, where he gets visions of a mysterious lady (Madhubala) claiming to be his lover in their previous lives.

Among those who attended were Amrohi's son Tajdar Amrohi, filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia, veteran actor Amol Palekar, late Shashi Kapoor's son Kunal Kapoor and Neila Devi, wife of late Shammi Kapoor.

"Mahal" was screened by Fakih on the 35 mm vintage print to celebrate the analogue-era legacy of cinema at Regal Cinema.

Tajdar Amrohi narrated an anecdote about what went behind the making of "Mahal".

"This is an honourable moment for me to be here. 'Mahal' was the first suspense film. When Savak (Vacha, the producer) heard the script of 'Mahal', he was keen to make it, but Kamal sahab had one condition. He said, 'I will only direct it.' Savak asked, 'Did you assist anyone?' Kamal sahab said, 'No'." "He was a little surprised that Kamal Amrohi would not give his script if he was not given the opportunity to direct the movie. He called Ashok Kumar who suggested offer him more money and he might give away the script. but Kamal Amrohi said he would rather take a pay cut. This was Kamal Amrohi's debut film and first suspense film," he added.

Kunal Kapoor said he enjoyed watching "Mahal" on the big screen for the first time.

"I had not seen 'Mahal', so I came here. Besides, I believe strongly in preservation of such films. It's good to see how so many people have turned up, especially the younger ones to watch it," Kapoor told PTI.

An elderly couple from South Mumbai's Kalbadevi area said it was good to revisit one of their favourite films in a theatre.

"We thought the theatre would be relatively empty, but it isn't. We enjoyed watching this film back in the day and when we learnt that it was getting screened we decided to watch it again. The rains didn't prevent us from watching one of the finest movies of Kamal Amrohi," they said.