From 4K to 8K: Rethinking how Indian cinema is preserved
As India confronts the fragility of its vast cinematic heritage, conversations around film restoration are moving beyond theatrical re-releases and short-term visibility. In this interview, Abhishek Prasad, Director & CTO at Prasad, discusses why 2025 became a decisive year for preservation, how the shift from 4K to 8K is changing archival thinking, and what these choices mean for the long-term memory of Indian cinema.
Why do you see 2025 as the year India’s film restoration journey began shifting seriously from 4K to 8K preservation?
2025 was the year restoration in India stopped being driven mainly by passion projects and began to be seen as a necessity. Until recently, many restoration efforts were tied to re-releases or special screenings. But it has become increasingly clear that India holds one of the world’s largest film archives, much of it fragile, poorly documented and already deteriorating.
With every delay, there is irreversible loss—chemical decay, colour fading, sound degradation. That urgency forced a rethink. If we only scan films for current exhibition standards like 4K, we are still limiting their future. Scanning at 8K allows us to capture the full information present in the original negative—the grain, texture and detail—so the film can survive well beyond today’s formats.
In 2025, this shift translated into concrete decisions, with several films across languages being scanned in 8K and restored with long-term preservation in mind. Restoration began to be treated less as a one-off project and more as a responsibility
What does thinking beyond 4K change in the way Indian films are being preserved today?
It changes the intent of restoration.
4K works well for present-day exhibition and distribution, but 8K is fundamentally about preservation. When you scan at 8K, you are recording the film’s original visual character—its natural grain structure and organic detail—without forcing it to look contemporary.
This approach also discourages excessive digital cleaning or artificial sharpening. Instead, you create a high-fidelity archival master and then derive exhibition formats like 4K from it. The original, most accurate version remains safely preserved.
Internationally, this “scan at the highest possible resolution, distribute intelligently” model has been standard archival practice for some time. India is now beginning to adopt that discipline.
Why is restoration no longer just about theatrical re-releases or short-term monetisation?
Because restoration is ultimately about survival, not celebration.
A re-release is temporary; preservation is generational. Every year a negative is left unattended, something is permanently lost.
What became evident in 2025 is that treating restoration as a title-by-title, box-office-driven exercise is insufficient. There is growing recognition that entire archives need systematic care—clear standards, documentation, funding models and long-term storage strategies.
Much of this work is invisible. Restoring one hour of film can involve thousands of hours of labour: frame-by-frame image repair, sound reconstruction, historical research and metadata creation. The focus is shifting from event-driven restoration to policy-driven preservation.
What does this shift towards 8K preservation mean for the long-term legacy of Indian cinema?
It means Indian cinema can be remembered as it was meant to be seen, rather than through degraded or compromised copies.
An 8K scan captures the maximum possible image and sound information from original elements. Decades from now, future archivists and technologists will be able to create new formats and experiences without returning to fragile film materials.
This is especially significant for landmark works. Preserving them at the highest resolution helps retain their original scale, texture and visual intent. It also reduces the temptation to “modernise” older films through aggressive digital manipulation.
True legacy is built by respecting how films were originally conceived—by preserving their lighting, colour, framing and rhythm—rather than reshaping them to fit contemporary tastes.
How will the films being restored today influence how Indian cinema is experienced and remembered by future generations?
Archives are not just storage spaces; they are cultural memory.
The films we preserve today will shape how future generations understand India’s social, visual and emotional history—how people spoke, dressed, imagined and represented themselves at different moments in time.
In that sense, preservation is also a form of storytelling. The quality and care with which we protect these works will determine how accurately that story is told.
Importantly, this effort cannot be limited to a handful of well-known titles. Regional cinema, documentaries, newsreels and experimental films are equally part of the record. Everything that was captured on film or tape contributes to the collective memory, and all of it deserves the chance to endure.
