JOIN USMegastar Amitabh Bachchan has voiced his concern over the medium of film losing its importance in the digital world.
The 75-year-old actor, who met renowned filmmaker Christopher Nolan yesterday here to discuss film preservation and restoration, said the cause deserves serious consideration and it is important that people from the film industry across the globe come together to save the medium.
Nolan is in India on a three day trip along with visual artiste Tacita Dean to promote the cause of film preservation and restoration,
"Prominent dignitaries from the world of cinema gathered here in a roundtable to debate and ascertain the importance of film heritage and its preservation. The word film has suddenly lost its charm; for there does not seem to be any need to shoot films on film. It's all digital now.
"It was known as the 'film industry', they were known as 'film stars'. So in the complete absence of that medium and that product, it would be quite in order to call ourselves 'robotic genes' or words of similar sound -- 'digi act' or 'digi digi'-- It would be an issue that would need consideration," Bachchan wrote on his blog.
The actor said celluloid film is the "original format" and it is necessary to bring it back into the business.
"It (film) had greater aesthetic value, and its preservation, an essential for posterity of having an original, than one that has been manufactured digitally. Digital is a derivative of the original film print so how would you feel if a xerox copy of a Picasso were to be up at a museum for attention and appreciation. The film is the original, digital format is not and in time to come to this format may retire too," he added.
Bachchan also shared few pictures from the roundtable event, which was attended by Shah Rukh Khan and Kamal Haasan among others.