There is good news for cine enthusiasts of Mumbai and the visitors to the city. The National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC), which was closed during the pandemic, was on Saturday reopened to public in the presence of the union minister of state for information and broadcasting L Murugan. The Museum is spread over two buildings -the Gulshan Mahal heritage wing and the modernist new building on Pedder Road.
NMIC, which is one of its kind museums in India, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2019. The visiting minister today was given an overview of the Museum and information with regard to comprehensive restoration work that had to be undertaken due to its prolonged closure.
The 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. In addition, film properties, vintage equipment, posters, copies of important films, promotional leaflets, sound tracks, trailers, transparencies, old cinema magazines, statistics covering film making and distribution are displayed 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 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.
