Dhaka: The Bangladesh Film Archive (BFA) has received the copies of nine rare films, including Sukhdeve Singh’s documentary ‘Nine Months to Freedom: The Story of Bangladesh’ 1972), from National Film Archive of India (NFAI).

The films also include ‘Jamai Shosthi’ (1935), first Bangla talkie directed by Amarendranath Chowdhury, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ (1913), directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, and also accredited as the first Indian silent film, said a PID handout on Wednesday.

The copies of the nine films were handed over to Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmad, now in India, by NFAI director Prakash Magdum at the NFAI in Pune, India on Monday last as a token of welcome.

BFA director general Dr Md Jahangir Alam was also present on the occasion.

The BFA also handed over the rare copy of Prothmesh Barua directed Bangla language film ‘Devdas’ (1935), which is based on Sharat Chandra Chattapaddhyay’s famous novel of the same title, and is accredited as the first among the five Bangla, Hindi and Telegu language films with the same title, to the NFAI.

The handout also mentioned that Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmad said a primary understanding has been reached between the authorities concerned of both the countries to work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exchange of films in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Times of India, a popular Indian daily, on Tuesday published a report on the handover of ‘Devdas’ (1935) from Bangladesh to India.

The report quoted NFAI director Prakash Makdum as saying, ‘This is a landmark moment in the history of the film archive as this was an important film for the Indian heritage and a very important addition to our collection.’