FICCI FRAMES 2016 - Govt is keen to promote media and entertainment industry

MUMBAI, 1 April 2016: The Government of India was making a conscious effort to move towards less regulation of the media and entertainment industry and was encouraging auto regulation by industry, said Mr. Sunil Arora, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at a keynote session on ‘Making India a Global M&E Hub’  on day three of FICCI FRAMES.

Mr. Arora said that the industry had time and again raised the issue of clearances. Hence the government was easing and liberalizing the process of security clearances to allow greater flexibility for the film fraternity. Speaking about the FM auctions, he said after the successful auction last year, a  new set of rules have been submitted to the Cabinet for the next phase of FM radio auctions.

Underlining the challenges for making India a global M&E hub, Mr. Arora said that the theatre density of the country left a lot to be desired. There was a need to increase the number of theatres in the country. On the taxation side, he said that the levies would be rationalized automatically once the GST is in place.

Raising the issue of lack of domestic manufacturing of set top boxes, Mr. Arora said that the electronics industry needs to play a critical role in stepping up the production of set top boxes in India. Currently, in India less than 10 per cent set top were being manufactured domestically.

Mr. Arora said that that the government was committed to digitization and was moving towards it. The National Film Archives of India was working towards safeguarding the heritage of Indian cinema and was in the process of digitizing more than 1000 films. 

Mr. Arora said that the government was setting up a Film Facilitation Office for enabling the industry and government in tandem. To promote the media and entertainment industry in the states, a new award ‘Most Film Friendly State’ had been conceived. He added that this year, Gujarat would be felicitated with the newly created award.

Highlighting the initiatives of the government to promote the media and entertainment industry in the country, Mr. Arora said that a Centre of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects and Gaming was coming up at the Film City in Maharashtra besides a National Film Museum and Permanent National Photo Gallery.

Mr. Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI’s M&E Committee and CEO, STAR India and Mr. Ramesh Sippy, Co-Chairman, FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee, also shared their views.

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Taapsee Pannu’s amazed to see Bachchan Sr before time on sets

Taapsee shares a punctuality Bond with Mr.Bachchan!

We all would find connects with the other individual around that we really cherish, be it our family, friends or co-workers.

But when actors be with each other for a long time during shoots they too find common things amongst each other which become an unsaid bond.

Actress Taapsee Pannu too have found one with Mr.Bachchan and is extremely glad about it. Its been a while Taapsee is working in films and is really fond of reaching sets before time to absorb the nature of the same and coincidentally bonded with Amitabh sir on the same lines, source closed to the film said that both the co- actors were early to sets everyday rehearsing and adapting the environment.

When contacted Taapsee on the same she said :

I always feel coming early on set and having enough time in your hand to not only get ready but to feel at ease in the new location is important for me as an actor.

Once I am ready I don’t even wait in my van for someone to call me, I myself step down to the set and sit there to absorb the surroundings. 
And it’s amazing to see that Bachchan sir reaches the location before time and doesn’t mind sitting there and waiting for his shot to be called.”

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India needs an Act to regulate kids’ content; provide parenting guidelines

Essential for broadcasters and kids content creators to develop content that balances education and entertainment

MUMBAI, 31 March 2016: To develop and improve the mind set of citizens it was of utmost importance that children were exposed to responsible entertainment and education. Right kind of education was more important than Right to Education. Children consists one-third of India’s population, hence it becomes critical for broadcasters and content creators to develop content which adds value and balances education and entertainment. Therefore, India needs an Act that regulates and monitors the content viewed by children as they are the future citizens of the country. The Act should also provide parenting guidelines.

This was stated by eminent media and entertainment industry veterans at a session on ‘India needs a kids content Act’ on day two of FICCI FRAMES. The kids programming in India needs customization and original content. An effective Act will ensure the largest kids population that India has gets the right content, education through entertainment and save the Indian cultural values and ethos by bringing in the right balance between the foreign content and Indian content.

Mr. Subhash Ghai, Film Maker, said for children to grow as real architects of the nation it was essential that they received extensive and in-depth knowledge about their culture and values. He pointed out that the state of education in India was mediocre and there were many great Indian stories that could be explored for creating content for kids.

Mr. M Srinivasan, Founder, GEAR Education, said that the personality of child develops in the first 10 years and it becomes essential that they were exposed to quality content. Hence, some regulations were needed to ensure that kids received quality exposure. He added that a comprehensive guideline for parents was also needed as the ambience of a child created his/her character.   

Mr. Rajiv Chilaka, Creator of Chhota Bheem, said that there were 630 million kids below the age of 16 years in India and kids’ content creators needed to add value to their properties. He suggested that to reach kids in the rural areas, there was a need for a dedicated channel like Doordarshan Kids as these regions may not have access to cable TV.

Mr. Mukesh Khanna, Chairman, CFSI, said that non-Indian content was being viewed by children as producers were scared to make products for kids as they were bound to lose money. Therefore, a regulation was needed that could encourage producers to develop original content for kids.

Citing the example of the film Baahubali, Mr. Nishith Takia, Producer, Delhi Safari, said that Indian content can be successful. Today children have lost respect for their own culture   and the need was to promote kids content which was rich in Indian values. He added that kids must be taught to value their heritage and they should not be ashamed of their roots.

Ms. Nina Jaipuria, EVP & GM Sonic & Nickelodeon India, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd., said that when Viacom ventured into the kids segment, 100 per cent content was from overseas but today almost 65 per cent content was Indian. She added that with digitization sharper segmentation has taking place which is helping in reaching more kids as well.

The moderator of the session was Mr. Ashish Kulkarni, Chairman, FICCI Animation & Gaming Forum

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