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Mumbai (Maharashtra) : The National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC), that had remained closed during the Covid pandemic, has reopened to public. Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Dr. L Murugan on February 26, 2022, paid a visit to the Museum heralding its reopening. He keenly observed the content displayed at the Museum spread over two buildings – the Gulshan Mahal heritage wing and the modernist new building on Pedder Road in South Mumbai.
Dr Murguan was given an overview of the Museum by the Director General of Films Division Ravindra Bhakar. He also explained the comprehensive restoration work that had to be undertaken due to prolonged closure of the museum. NMIC, which is a one of its kind museums in India, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2019, according to a PIB release.
While displays at Gulshan Mahal heritage building, spread over eight different halls of various sizes, trace the history of Indian Cinema from silent era to new wave, the New Museum Building houses mostly interactive displays.
NMIC has a huge collection of artefacts including the armour worn by Sivaji Ganeshan in the film “Veera Pandya Kattabomman” and the Red Coat worn by M G Ramchandran in the film “Adimai Penn”
Film properties, vintage equipment, posters, copies of important films, promotional leaflets, sound tracks, trailers, transparencies, old cinema magazines, statistics covering film making and distribution etc. are displayed in a systematic manner depicting the history of Indian cinema in a chronological order. The Kids’ Film Studio and Gandhi and Cinema are the other prominent attractions.
In May,2022, the NMIC Complex, comprising state-of-the-art auditoriums, will play host to the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts, and Animation Films (MIFF).