Third Eye, 2022, 19, 03: Asian Film Foundation awards Sudhir Nandgaonkar the Satyajit Ray prize

Sudhir Nandgaonkar worked tirelessly, all his life, for the cultural heritage of cinema. He reached out far and wide, propagating this culture, and played a key role in getting the local Marathi-speaking cinegoers of Mumbai and its suburbs to watch and appreciate world cinema, and discuss and debate it too. Towards this end, his Prabhat Chitra Mandal Film Society served the cause extremely well, by bringing in people from related fields like theatre, painting and music to enjoy and imbibe the new medium. He familiarised them with classic international cinema that was devoid of Hollywood.

A competent administrator, Sudhir Nandgaonkar has been associated with Prabhat, Mumbai’s oldest film Society, the Federation of Film Societies of India and FIPRESCI, the International Council of Film Journalists, in top management capacities.

Of course, his unparalleled work in the Third Eye Asian Film Festival and MAMI’s Mumbai Film Festival speaks for itself. In a digital world, where films can be watched on various media, to organise and keep relevant a live event like the Third Eye Asian Film Festival is no mean achievement. No wonder he has been honoured with the Satyajit Ray Prize for 2022.

Sudhir is not in the best of health, and I wish him a speedy recovery.