A VIDEO reel discovered buried in a draw in an antique shop in Wallasey has been turned into a major new piece of art.

Ajay Chhabra and his wife, Simmy, found the 1920s film when they visited Liverpool in 2006 with Bollywood Steps.

They hired equipment to watch the film and began a journey to piece together the work and life of the unknown film-maker who they discovered was Shanta Rao Dutt .

Mr Chhabra said: “We entered the world of a man of principle, a member of the working class from India.

“He left Mumbai in 1896 to follow the Lumiere brothers to France, then travelled the world documenting life and making short films.

“At the time he shot Docker and the Rose in Liverpool he worked for the Government shooting news reels for the cinema.

“He was sent to Liverpool to document the dispute between dock owners and Lascar and other immigrant sailors. It seems to have been partly inspired by Dutt’s fascination with Russian avante-garde and Futurism.

“The Docker and the Rose was his first fictional film and is based on a docker, Raam, falling in love with the owner’s daughter Rose.

“It was a compelling find. I still can’t believe our luck. It seems only right now that we bring the film back to where it was created for its premiere.”

Mr Chhabra is co-artistic director of art organisation nutkhut with his wife, Simmy Gupta, and together they have turned the story of Dutt and Docker and the Rose into an outdoor art piece which will be showcased at the Imagine festival which starts on Friday.

The piece, specially commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company, features two containers, one with memorabilia from the Dutt family’s many films and history and the second a miniature 1920s cinema which shows the nine-minute silent comedy.

Entitled Movieplex the couple have tried to capture the essence and inner thought of a man they believe to be a pioneer of his time.

Mr Chhabra added: “We hope we have done him justice. This is a man who was awarded with a knighthood in 1945 for his services to the war effort and who gave it back a year later when his son was deported for spying and leaking information to the Indian Independence Movement.

“This is the story and history of a man who despite his low status is a pioneer of his generation.

“We are glad to have restored him to his rightful place in film history.”

Marion Hewitt, director of the North West Film Archive, was closely involved in the conservation and digital conversion of the film.

She said: “This is a very exciting and important discovery. Dutt made a significant, but little known contribution to film which nutkhut and a group of enthusiasts are starting to put on the map.”

Movieplex will be staged at Sunshine Gates, Princes Park, Toxteth, on August 1, 2 and 3 and William Brown Street from August 7-10.

samanthaparker