Srinagar, Aug 1: Hard selling Jammu and Kashmir as film tourism hub, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Thursday said the government will provide facilities to filmmakers better than Europe.
Addressing an inaugural function of Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Policy 2024, Sinha said the government is taking measures to restore the ‘organic relationship’ between J&K and cinema.
“Cinema and Jammu and Kashmir cannot be viewed separately. There is an organic relationship between Cinema and Jammu and Kashmir, which progresses with each passing year. People associated with this art know why Kashmir was the first choice for Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra. For them, it was not just shooting but a cultural organism,” he said.
LG Sinha said a time came when the cinema-Jammu and Kashmir bond faced challenges. “Like other relationships, it also faced challenges. The challenges emerged in the form of terrorism. Now, measures are being taken on how the 40-year-old film ecosystem will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir has been always a part of every frame of Cinema that displayed culture and creativity.
He said the gaps existing in the film policy 2021 have been filled, thereby making application and subsidy for filmmakers easier.
“In August 2021, after discussions with film veterans and immense hard work, a film policy was unveiled. The policy played an important role and over 100 films and web series were shot. There were some gaps in the policy and the government has worked on the application and subsidy part,” Sinha said.
“Facilities like single window system have been introduced with Single Point of Contact to filmmakers. Hassle-free permission and subsidy grant process has been made easy. This film policy is filmmaker-friendly, ” he said.
Sinha informed that the film policy 2024 also has provisions for the empowerment of local filmmakers and local talent.
“The film policy also offers incentives and facilities to the local language films. Under the policy, the regional cinema will flourish. It will contribute to the Jammu and Kashmir film industry. A directory has been also included in the policy so that it becomes easy for a film kare to spot and hire the local talent,” he said.
Through this policy, Sinha said that efforts have been made to make Jammu and Kashmir a top film destination.
Saying Jammu and Kashmir offer better landscapes than Europe, the lieutenant governor said the administration was working to offer better facilities than European film destinations to the filmmakers.
“Jammu and Kashmir’s beauty is far better than Europe. It can prove a better film destination than Europe. The administration is working to provide better facilities than Europe to the filmmakers,” he said.
He said that the road connectivity to the locations is much better today and the J&K administration is committed to fulfilling the dreams of every single youth of the UT.
Sinha later told the Secretary of Information Rehana Batool to unveil the dates of the film festival being held in Jammu and Kashmir.
