TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Centre is planning to have a single window clearance facility for granting permissions for film shooting locations across the country, Director International Film Festival of India officials said Tuesday.
The new initiative is a big step towards encouraging Indian and International filmmakers, Shankar Mohan, Director International Film Festival of India (IFFI) told media at the one-day summit on ‘Indian Locations’ organized by Confederation of India Industry at Kala Academy, Goa.
“It will also help in increasing revenue generation for the state,” Mohan said.
Addressing producers’ queries about the benefits of this new system, Mohan said that along with cult industry personalities, debut filmmakers will get the maximum benefits from it.
Atul Pai Kane, Chairman, CII Goa State Council told the attendees about India’s rich heritage and diverse geography and it’s potential as a destination for film shooting.
Anubhav Sinha, filmmaker and producer of the blockbuster film Ra One sharing his discomfort about the current shooting locations said, “First and foremost the ministry should acknowledge the fact that there is a difference between Tourism and Filmmaking,” adding that filmmakers are creative people and ‘they should understand and respect our location requirements as we do with regards to following rules and getting permissions for the same.’
“Today most of the filmmakers prefer shooting at international locations not just because they have more exotic locations than India but because permission procedures and creative freedom is better abroad. They offer better schemes and packages in comparison to our Indian tourism board,” Sinha said.
Bharatan Kandaswamy, Executive Producer, Kavithalayaa Productions was of the opinion that “Tourism and Indian Cinema are parallel to each other. Most of the iconic film locations over a period of time have turned into tourist spots. So a better understanding about the filmmakers’ vision will only help in boosting tourism in that State.”
