Ravi Chopra, director and son of legendary filmmaker B.R. Chopra, says he wants to colour all his father's black and white films for the modern day audience who might have missed out on the classics that have shaped the Hindi film industry.

Chopra, 60, said he would first colour four films -- "Naya Daur", "Gumrah", "Kanoon" and "Dhool Ka Phool". The Dilip Kumar-Vyajantimala starrer "Naya Daur" would be released on Oct 3 this year. And the other films would be taken up for colouring subsequently.

"Old films are being neglected but these films are classics and they deserve to be screened again," Chopra told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

"Adding a modern touch like colouring them is a must as it will pull the audience to watch these old films and I think they will also love seeing these beautiful movies in colour."

"Mostly youngsters go to theatres to watch movies but why will they like to watch a black and white film? They are missing out on films that have shaped Bollywood as it stands today. I want youngsters to know how our industry's past was."

Pigmenting is a recent Bollywood phenomenon. The trend started with the cult 1960 Dilip Kumar runaway romance "Mughal-e-Azam" becoming the first black and white movie to be coloured.

Now, a slew of movies, including Dev Anand's "Hum Dono" and Guru Dutt's "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam", are set to be released in colour.

Though much hype was created before the release of "Mughal-e-Azam", it failed to live up to expectations and received moderate success at the box-office. It was also panned by critics who disliked the choice of the colours.

But Chopra, also the director of the widely-popular TV series "Mahabharat" which ran over 94 episodes between 1988 and 1990, is prepared to take the risk and said he would take extra care while colouring the films.

"I feel the colour scheme used for 'Mughal-e-Azam' was not handled properly," he said. "I will be extra cautious."

Chopra said he would be spending around Rs.35 million for colouring each film. He added that he was not aiming at earning money from the box-office as it a personal mission to bring his father's films back to the theatres with a fresh look.

"If I get back what I will invest, it will be enough for me," he said.

Chopra said there would be no editing on the original films and that the music would also be untouched. However, the sound, being mastered by music director Aadesh Srivastav, would be made digital to give it a modern feel.

Purists are unhappy with directors coming forward to colour the films and say it amounts to tampering with creative art.

"This is unethical and destructive," said Derek Bose, a Bollywood scholar. "People should respect the sanctity of someone's work. Changing something from the original film is unacceptable."

"If this was done after taking the consent of the person who had originally made the film, it would have been still acceptable but when those people are no longer alive, it is outrageous to chanBig B may face action in Pune land issue Awards and celebrations apart, the Maharashtra government may prosecute Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan if it was found that he has acquired farmland near Pune through any fraudulent means.

According to Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane, the State government would initiate actions against the Bollywood mega star if he is found guilty in the land deal.

Rane's comments came a day after a Uttar Pradesh court dismissed an appeal by Bachchan against an order cancelling transfer of land in his name on the ground that he was not a farmer in UP.

The court said the allotment of the farmland in a village in Barabanki district by the previous Mulayam Singh government was an act of forgery.

"If it is found that he (Bachchan) is not a farmer then government will take back the land and file a case," Rane said.

Meanwhile, a senior Maharashtra government official said, "As per Section 63 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act 1948, no person can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra if he is not a farmer."

The Mulayam Singh Yadav government in UP had allotted three bighas (about 70,000 sq ft) of prime land in Barabanki district to Bachchan, who used the allotment as a testimonial to establish his credentials as a farmer to buy over 20 acres of agricultural land in Pune district.

The Pune District Collector in March 2006 had written to the Barabanki District Magistrate for authentication of Bachchan's testimonial.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had recently announced that the state government would seek a factual report from Uttar Pradesh and would take appropriate action on Bachchan's land deal in Pune district.

The land, two km from Pavna dam in Maval, was purchased in the name of Amitabh and his son Abhishek. In March 2006, Bachchan produced documents approved by the UP government that certified him as a farmer who was cultivating agricultural land in Daulatpur village of UP, the official said.