More classics to be coloured by Ravi Chopra

Mumbai, Sep 15 (IANS) Though the colour version of 'Naya Daur' hasn't been as big a success as 'Mughal-e-Azam', Ravi Chopra is all set to colourize many well-known classics.

'After 'Naya Daur' we'll now colour our other black-and-white classic 'Gumrah', which was originally released in 1963. This will be followed by a coloured version of my father B.R. Chopra's 1958 classic 'Sadhana',' Chopra told IANS.

Interestingly, 'Gumrah', about an unfaithful wife (Mala Sinha) and her clandestine trysts with her lover before marriage, was remade two years ago by Dharmesh Darshan as 'Bewafaa'.

'Better the coloured versions than the remakes,' said Vyjayanthimala, who features in 'Naya Daur' and the soon-to-be-re-released 'Sadhana'.

'I very honestly feel remakes miss the spirit of the original. I much prefer our old classics to be technically updated. That way a new generation wakes up to the original without any creative tampering. Give me a coloured version of a classic than a remake any day. I just don't like remakes,' she added.

Besides her, many learned sections of the film industry feel black-and-white classics shouldn't be tampered with.

'I wouldn't want to see coloured versions of Guru Dutt's 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam' or Bimal Roy's 'Bandini' or 'Sujata',' said Gulzar.

However, Rituparno Ghosh, who made 'Dosor', one of the rare black-and-white Indian films in the era, feels every film has its own mood and colour.

He said: 'You can't fill the colours of the rainbow into a summer sky.'