The Marilyn Monroe-starrer Niagara (1953) was the film that turned Rashid Irani’s head. The film critic and collector recounted his first time watching the Hollywood feature that turned him into a film buff in the documentary short If Memory Serves Me Right... (2021).

Rafeeq Ellias’s film observes Irani as he is in his element, talking about the things he loves and enjoys most in the world. Shot in Pune and Mumbai, If Memory Serves Me Right... goes from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) to the iconic Irani cafes still operating in Mumbai.

The septuagenarian, who called himself a purist, is able to recall important details of his life, as he watched many classics originally on the big screen, and narrates how he was able to track down coveted books on poetry and literature.

“Most of my life, I have lived vicariously through movies and through books,” the lifelong bachelor admits. Before becoming a film critic at The Times of India and the Hindustan Times newspapers, Irani worked for seventeen-and-a-half years at a shipping company and managed his family restaurant Brabourne until its closure in 2008.

If Memory Serves Me Right... arrives at a time when critics and audiences debate about the state and future of cinema. Irani had witnessed many such changes in his lifetime, including the lockdown and unfortunate closure of theatres due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he comments in the film that the future will hold critics who have rarely seen films in theatres.

While following Irani down memory lane, the tone of If Memory Serves Me Right... is bittersweet, as many recollections are of things or people gone by. The film aficionado recalls meeting colourful characters when he still ran his cafe, the regulars who showed up daily to share their day.

He also shares his experiences at second-hand bookstores, poring over book after book. His small home was filled with precious books and magazines.

Recalling a conversation with German filmmaker Werner Herzog at a film festival in Kerala, Irani speaks about death and ponders what will happen to his collection. “Life on earth is ephemeral,” he states, recalling Herzog’s prediction that the written word will last longer.

The documentary also traces Irani during his dire living conditions after the lockdown. Living in an old building with no lift, he had no fridge or proper kitchen, and was separated from the thing he loved the most, films. Despite it all, he remained upbeat and said he was to blame for choosing to live like this.

Irani died at home on 30 July 2021. Ellias’s film views him both as friend and mentor. If Memory Serves Me Right... is a wonderful tribute to a lovely, erudite man whose absence is sorely felt on the Indian film scene.

If Memory Serves Me Right... was premiered in the Homage section of the 13th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) and screened online at Vikalp@Prithvi.