Three Sivaji Ganesan Tamil Classics Donated to NFAI

The correct answer is Thiruvarutchelvar. The archive did not hold this title in any format before the donation, so the print fills a real gap in the national collection, and the donor gave it priority once she learnt of the gap. Option A, Thillana Mohanambal, is wrong because the archive already holds several preservation elements of that film and the donation only adds a second surviving release print. Option B, Thiruvilayadal, is wrong because one preservation element of it was already in the collection; the donated print, apparently an optically altered version in the CinemaScope format, becomes the second. Option D, Rathakaneer, is wrong because that print was donated earlier, in January 2026, and was not part of this set of three. All three films star Sivaji Ganesan and were directed by A. P. Nagarajan.

The correct answer is Pune. The three donated Tamil prints were handed over to the NFDC-National Film Archive of India in that city, and the Film and Television Institute of India, where the donor works as a Film Research Officer, is based there as well. Option B, Chennai, is a careful distractor: the prints were located and collected from Chennai on 13 September 2026 before being moved, but the archive itself is not there. Option C, Mumbai, and option D, Kolkata, are centres of Indian cinema and of film culture but do not host the national archive. Candidates should remember the three titles together with their years, Thiruvarutchelvar of 1967, Thillana Mohanambal of 1968 and Thiruvilayadal of 1965, along with the actor Sivaji Ganesan and the director A. P. Nagarajan.

The correct answer is A. P. Nagarajan. All three donated prints, of Thiruvarutchelvar, Thillana Mohanambal and Thiruvilayadal, were directed by him and starred Sivaji Ganesan, which is why the set is treated as a single significant addition to the national collection rather than three unconnected titles. Options A, C and D name other well known Tamil directors, which makes them plausible, but they are not linked to these prints. The condition of the films is also worth noting for the preservation angle: each shows magenta colour fading and vertical projector scratches, the result of decades of projection and of storage in tropical and unfavourable surroundings. NFDC Managing Director Prakash Magdum said safeguarding the country’s cinematic heritage depends on individuals and organisations as much as on institutional collections.