Satyajit Ray, on my first trip to Kolkata, told me that a true study of Indian cinema should begin with the Prabhat Film Company classics, particularly Damle-Fattelal’s Sant Tukaram (1936), rather than with Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harischandra (1913).  I had already seen both of them, courtesy of P.K. Nair, creator and curator of the National Film Archives (NFAI) at the Film and Television Institute (FTII) in Pune. Nair, who saved the second, also introduced me to the films of Guru Dutt, Ritwick Ghatak and K. Balachandar.

I first met P(aramesh) K(risen) Nair in 1975, shortly after I traveled overland to India for the first time, from Tunisia. I planned to stay here for six months. But Jagat Murari, then head of Indian film festivals, advised me to travel to meet Nair at the NFAI. He knew more about Indian cinema than anyone else. I knew something about cinema in North America, Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

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