The entertainment industry managed to get a rare mention in this year’s Interim Budget speech, which many believe is a positive recognition of the industry known for being a major employment generator.
Stand-in Finance Minister Piyush Goyal took a break from his Budget speech to appreciate the recent release Uri: The Surgical Strike, with some in the House shouting out the popular dialogue from the flick: “How’s the josh?”.
The Minister announced that Indian film-makers will now have access to a single window clearance mechanism. So far, the government’s Film Facilitation Office was enabling single window clearance only for foreign film companies.
Experts said that if implemented well, this could provide a major boost for the film industry as it will reduce costs, cut the red tape in obtaining clearances and encourage film-makers to shoot in India instead of opting for foreign locales. India is one of the leading producers of films in the world and makes as many as 2,000 movies annually. Jehil Thakkar, Head –Media & Entertainment, and Partner at Deloitte India, said, “This is a significant move. It can take as much as much as 3-4 months to get all the clearances to shoot films, which escalates production budgets. If implemented well, this will help in increasing the speed to market for films as well as reduce the working capital for film-makers.”
Utkarsh Sanghvi – Partner, Indirect Tax, Media & Entertainment, EY India said, “The government has already set up a Film Facilitation Office (FFO) for enabling a single window clearance for foreign film companies shooting in India. It is a welcome measure for Indian Films to take benefit of FFO.” Earlier, shooting at a particular site was privy to multiple permissions that the producer had to seek. The list of permissions in a city like Mumbai would go up to over 50, he said.
Curbing piracy
Onir, film and TV director, editor, screenwriter and producer, who won the National Award for his film I Am, said that the existing procedure was very cumbersome. “Single window clearance would mean things would be much smoother and there would be less corruption.” He felt the measure to curb piracy is also important as the loss of money from this is huge and it is high time that India join the other countries in the world fighting piracy.
The government also said that it will introduce anti-camcording provisions in the Cinematograph Act to control menace of piracy. Last month, the I&B Ministry proposed stricter penalties to combat piracy such as imprisonment up to three years and fines up to ₹ 10 lakh in the draft Cinematograph Act (Amendment Bill) for film piracy offender.
Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD, Viacom18, said these initiatives will help the entertainment industry grow at a faster clip. Talking about anti-piracy provisions, he said, “This will ensure that in-theatre pirated recordings now become a penal offence and will act as a strong deterrent to piracy.”
“That law has always been there. It has always been illegal. I don’t know what the Budget has to do with that. Are they going to increase penalty?” wondered Hansal Mehta, film director, writer, actor and producer, won the 2013 National Film Award for Best Direction.
“I believe this budget looks at filmmakers and the industry as a major force in the country...” said Anand Pandit, Producer.