Uttarakhand has got a very bright potential for film production. To highlight the State as preferred destination of making movies, the film producers should be regularly invited and small film festivals should be organised. Veteran film maker Ramesh Sippy gave these suggestions while interacting with the officials in the pavilion of Uttarakhand during ‘Global Exhibition on Services’ held at Mumbai on Thursday.
Sippy was invited to the pavilion of Uttarakhand by the Secretary information Pankaj Pandey and deputy director information, K S Chauhan. In the discussions, Sippy said that the environment has become conducive for film shooting in Uttarakhand and this has been shown by the State receiving the award of being the ‘Most Film Friendly State’ during the national film festival recently. He suggested that new destinations for film shooting should be identified and infrastructure and other facilities should be provided there.
The veteranfilmmaker also suggested that efforts should be made to invite international film makers to Uttarakhand for film shooting so that the natural beauty of Uttarakhand is publicized around the world.
The secretary information, Pankaj Kumar Pandey told Sippy that many prominent producers and directors have shot 50 films and TV serials in Uttarakhand in last one year.
He added Government is contemplating some changes in the film policy of the state for which suggestions of the producers and directors would be valuable. For suggestions and guidance, Pandey also invited the selection committee of the ‘National film awards’ to Uttarakhand. Sippy who is a member of the committee accepted the invitation and full jury of the award committee is expected in Dehradun in June.
Pandey added that Uttarakhand has a single window system in place for film producers in which all clearances are given in less than seven days.
The Director, National Film Development Corporation, N J Shiekh suggested that Uttarakhand should participate in film festivals around the world to provide information about its shooting locations in Uttarakhand.
The IT additional secretary Amit Sinha, Industry director Sudhir Nautiyal and others attended the interaction.