• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Information and Broadcasting (right), with film star, Rani Mukherjee, and Mr Yash Chopra, Chairman, FICCI Entertainment Committee, at the `Frames 2003' Global Convention on the business of entertainment organised by FICCI in Mumbai on Friday.

MUMBAI, March 14

THE dent to Bollywood's image from its poor record at the box office in 2002 showed as the Government promised encouragement but told the film industry to set its house in order.

"You will have to introduce an element of corporate governance. The whole process has to be tuned to the demands of present competitive business," Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting (I&B), said while inaugurating FICCI's entertainment business convention, `Frames 2003,' here on Friday.

Maintaining that the existing regime for films was among the most liberal globally, Mr Prasad said the Government would pursue the goal of rationalising State-level entertainment tax with upper limit at 60 per cent. An inter-ministerial dialogue has been started to put in place a single window clearance system for foreign films shot in India.

Co-production treaties are being explored and it will have to be an important premise driving the industry. Co-production needs bilateral treaties given the subsidised status of the film industry in many countries, Mr Pawan Chopra, Secretary, I&B, explained. India does not have such treaties currently in place with any country.

Outlining his perception of the sector and the similarity it has in parts with infotech, the Minister cited three points — pool of technically qualified and experienced people; low production cost; liberal regime enabling inward/outward movement of personnel/technology — as pivotal to the industry's growth. Describing entertainment as cross-cultural but animation as culture-neutral, he said animation courses would begin at the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) and the Satyajit Ray Film Institute. Legislative measures to curb piracy were also promised.

In his opening remarks, Mr Yash Chopra, Chairman, FICCI Entertainment Committee, presented a 10 point-agenda for the sector, including protection of IPR, greater FI funding at lower interest rates and a market development fund for film exports. But a hint of Bollywood's standing was provided by Mr Pawan Chopra, who while noting the incremental progress made, asked all the same, "Why do we come year after year to discuss the same issues with the same stakeholders". Given the introspective mood in which the industry itself turned up at the convention, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad's observations were accepted with a degree of inevitability.

Mr Bobby Bedi, Convenor, Frames 2003, said of 2002, "The audience was very much there but the product was not. The quality of content has become crucial".

Mr Yash Chopra himself noted, "It was a difficult year. In our struggle for survival, we lost sight of the promise we made to ourselves and to you". Winding up proceedings after the Minister's speech, Mr Amit Khanna, Chairman, Reliance Entertainment Ltd, said, "The government can't be perceived as some sort of godfather that leads us to an El Dorado, without our own effort".

At a press briefing, the Minister made it clear that Conditional Access System (CAS) will be implemented. "That is clear, categorical and unambiguous," he said. However, asked if the July 14 deadline would be stuck to, he said, a task force was studying the subject as also issues such as set top box pricing.

On the topic of offensive advertising, the Minister said he was not in favour of moral policing and instead sought self-regulation from the broadcast industry.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Safeguard probe on Bisphenol imports

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line