What was originally conceived as a promotional capsule for "Paan Singh Tomar" eventually grew into "A Story That Refused To Die", says director Ranjeeta Kaur, who describes the film as a tribute to both the making of the movie and the artistic legacy of its lead actor Irrfan Khan.

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, the 2012 biographical drama chronicled the extraordinary life of titular national steeplechase champion who represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, before joining the army and eventually being pushed by personal injustice into becoming a feared dacoit.

With over 60 hours of raw footage from the filming of “Paan Singh Tomar” and unscripted moments, the film has been condensed into a 47-minute documentary, which captures not just the making of the film, but the spirit of the collaboration behind it, Kaur said.

“There are moments in this (documentary) which will tell you about the power of cinema, there are moments of the intensity of what Irrfan ji felt as an artist and the journey, how I saw, how it was.

"It is not just about putting some clips together and making a documentary. The core of the documentary is ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, a film that was made against all odds and that defied norms of the industry," Kaur told PTI in an interview. For Kaur, "Paan Singh Tomar" is the film that changed her perspective on cinema.

“I just wanted to share this with anybody who loves filmmaking, who loves cinema, and who loves Irrfan sahab, the actor and the person. I’ve added as many anecdotes as possible,” she said.

Kaur describes the documentary as a kind of "cinematic tutorial", an attempt to preserve vital film history, much like revisiting the making of a timeless classic such as "Mughal-e-Azam".

“It's like nostalgia and so many things that you would come to know (about cinema, acting, etc), I think we should preserve things which we are proud of,” she said.

Among the many roles Khan, who passed away at the age of 54 in April 2020, essayed over his career, the actor's turn as the athlete-turned-bandit in "Paan Singh Tomar" remains widely regarded as one of his finest performances.

“It is one of the finest Indian films ever made and Irrfan's one of the finest performances. It (the documentary) celebrates him, his artistry, it is for the people who loved his art,” the 52-year-old Kaur said.

According to the journalist-turned-director, Irrfan was aware of the documentary but never saw the final cut.

“I wish he had seen it, just once. I know ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ took a lot of toll on him physically and emotionally.” Kaur recalled being roped in by UTV Pictures, who were the producers of the film, to shoot the raw footage on the sets of “Paan Singh Tomar”.

She started work in late 2012 and had nearly completed a first cut by early 2013 when a major system crash wiped out all the files.

“This (documentary) was a very developmental thing. At that point in time the film was kept on hold by the production house. One fine day, I got a call saying that, ‘We are releasing the film this Friday and send us the tapes’. I was like, the tapes were lying with the executive producer. Later, I was told the tapes were spoiled. I was disheartened, I knew there was so much interesting stuff that we had shot.” Eight months after the release of the film, Kaur stumbled upon digitised backup of the BTS on the hard drive. However, the path was far from smooth, as half of that footage was unusable, funds ran dry, and later even the hard drive crashed and she was left with only a single video.

Despite the several setbacks, Kaur said she was determined to put together the footage, which later took the form of a documentary. And with encouragement and financial assistance from Dhulia, she completed the documentary.

“Tishu sir himself had held onto the story of ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ for 20 years before it was made. I was like ‘Let me do this for my own happiness, and let's see what shape it will take in the future and I started work on it’.

"When I sat to work on it with my editor, we realised that half the footage was unusable. It's like a tailor has a limited cloth, and in that, you are cutting and you’ve to make a garment out of it.” Kaur also revealed that Dhulia had planned to have a coffee table book to archive the history of the National Award-winning film but it never materialised.

“The idea was that we will put the DVD (of the documentary) in the coffee table book and release it. Tishu sir was very keen to share all of this with the world. I’m happy finally we are doing so,” she said.

Produced by Angad Films and Tigmanshu Dhulia Films, “A Story That Refused to Die” will be screened on April 29 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Dhulia and Vishal Bhardwaj in conversation with journalist-host Saurabh Dwivedi.

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