India, Sept. 9 -- With the restored versions of three Indian classics featuring prominently at two major international film festivals within a period of a week, preservation of the country's film heritage is having a banner year.

While the cinematic epic Sholay premiered at the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), as did legendary director Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri or Days and Nights in the Forests, Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin was showcased at the Venice film festival.

Sholay played to an audience in Toronto that reminded director Ramesh Sippy of its launch in India 50 years back in 1975. "It was an iconic screening, with so many, so many people," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of the Mumbai-ba...