Hailed as one of the finest features films on the travails of Partition, M.S. Sathyu’s “ Garam Hava” is hitting the screens again across the country four decades after its first release. It will be released on November 14 in 70 screens in eight metros.

The film, made with a shoe-string budget of Rs.10 lakh, has been restored now at 10 times that cost. The restoration process took over a year and a half as the negative was badly damaged, Mr. Sathyu told The Hindu. Over two lakh frames have been individually treated and the original negative restored. The sound quality has been digitally enhanced at a studio in Los Angeles.

Garam Hava is centred around the trauma of Partition and the anti-Muslim hysteria which swept the country in the months following it. The award-winning film was hailed for the way it delicately treated the personal anguish of a community.

The film had created a storm when it was made. In fact, anticipating communal disharmony during the election held in Uttar Pradesh in 1973, the release was delayed by a year. But, an unperturbed Mr. Sathyu waited patiently for a year. A fanatic fringe even wanted to get Mr. Sathyu arrested. However, when it was released in 1974, it won Nargis Dutt National Award for National Integration.

“In fact I was not speaking only about India in the film. The situation was no different in other parts of the world. The film is about all the displaced people who are refused their right in their homeland,” he explained. Mr. Sathyu said that the film is relevant even after 40 years as sectarian forces are destroying the country’s secular fabric.

“The film is being re-released at a time when Congress and Left parties have completely failed in governing this country. I hope people will receive the film well,” he said. There is a plan to release the film in smaller cities in the second phase, said Sathyu’s daughter, Seema.

Trivia on Garam Hava

* The film was made in 1973

* Film Finance Corporation funded the project to the extent of Rs.2.50-lakh

* Producers including director M.S. Sathyu invested Rs.7.50-lakh by availing loans from their friends

* It is the debut film of noted cinematographer Ishan Arya, who shot the picture with second-hand Arriflex camera

* Noted actor of the time, Balraj Sahni, who essayed lead role of Salim Mirza received Rs. 5000 as remuneration

* Artistes from the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) were paid very little money

* The movie was released in 1974

* Nominated for Competitive Section at Cannes Film Festival 1974

* Bagged National Award (Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration at National Film Award) 1974

* Indian Submission for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film 1974

* Recipient of three Film Fare Awards in 1975

* An approximate sum of Rs. one crore has been spent now to restore over two lakh frames