Lauding the reach of Indian cinema across the globe, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley called the Indian film industry “its soft power abroad” and announced the government’s intention to set up a film and television Institute in the north eastern region, “for the benefit of the young creative minds”.
Speaking at the 62nd National Film Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan on Sunday, Jaitley said, “We lead the world average in terms of number of movies produced each year. Indian movies have found increasing acceptance in the international forum.”
“[The] government is committed to take all possible measures towards the overall growth of the film industry — towards its even spread across the country and not restricted to certain pockets,” He said the number one priority of the government is to take the entertainment industry to every nook and corner of India, which includes setting up of a film and television institute in the northeast.
Jaitley appreciated award-winning films such as Mary Kom and Queen for bringing women into the spotlight. “We witness the triumph of the spirit of liberation and empowerment of women-centric themes on the silver screen. The success of movies such as Queen and Mary Kom are testimony to this.
Social values have influenced our cinema and similarly our cinema has also had a great impact on our social values,” he said.
The minister, dressed in a light-coloured Kurta Pajama with a Nehru jacket, said: “Spread over the fruitful 100 years of Indian cinema, the saga has been that of a spirit of entrepreneurship,” he said, adding that experimentation and innovation with new themes in form, content and technology have always been employed by filmmakers in India.
He also congratulated young singer Uttara Unnikrishanan, who won the Best Playback Female Singer award for the song Azhagu from Tamil movie Saivam. “I would like to congratulate her on her achievement at an early age.
We wait for the time when she will captivate the world with her melodious voice,” Jaitley said.
