I never thought an action as ordinary as reading an article in a magazine would turn my life on its head. In 2010, I was a filmmaker with a flourishing career, shooting four commercials a month, travelling the world, with barely time to breathe between projects. It was then that I read an article in which Martin Scorsese spoke about a festival named Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, Italy, dedicated to restored films.

I had never heard of a festival of restored films before or even that films could and were being restored. Curiosity aroused, we travelled to Bologna to attend the festival. It was a revelation. We discovered a new world of film archivists and restorers dedicated to preserving, restoring and screening films from around the world, some films dating back to the birth of cinema over a century ago – some of them showcased beautifully with live accompaniment in the magnificent medieval Piazza Maggiore.

Yet there was a glaring absence of restored Indian films and Indian archivists that gave us pause to think about the state of India’s film heritage.