New Delhi, Aug 3 (PTI) From Oscar-winning documentary short “The Elephant Whisperers” to a small-budget film like “Kantara”, regional cinema of India is now being recognised globally, said Union minister L Murugan on Thursday.
The Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 2023 Jagran Film Festival here.
Citing the example of films such as “The Elephant Whisperers”, “Baahubali” and “Ponniyin Selvan”, he said regional movies are playing a crucial role in the development of the country.
“They (these films) came from a region, they went national and now they have gone international. Take ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ that got an Oscar award, ‘Baahubali’, ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, ‘Kantara’ for example,” he said, adding cinema is an important tool of communication.
“In my village, we used to watch films in makeshift open-air theatres where people used to carry projectors and they used to play movies featuring MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan. Movies also give a message to people,” the minister said.
He also said he is happy The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, was approved by the Lok Sabha last week.
The amendments to the act mandate a maximum jail term of three years and a fine of up to five per cent of the production cost of the film for those involved in film piracy and circulation of such content.
This was the first substantial amendment to the Cinematograph Act 1953 since 1984 when the minimum punishment for an offence relating to a video film was introduced.
Murugan said the idea behind approving the amendments to the act was to “protect the producers” and “impose penalty” on the perpetrators of piracy.
“The producers from the industry demanded that the Cinematography Act has to be amended because you have to protect the producers’ money. They invest crores and within a minute, one laptop is enough for piracy to happen. We had a detailed discussion with the people from the industry. Now, the Cinematography Act has been amended,” he added.
The minister declared the festival open by lighting a lamp at the event which was also attended by cinema personalities such as Kajol, Anupam Kher, Rahul Rawail, Paban Kumar Haobam, Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Boney Kapoor, and Subhash Ghai as well as acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi.
The JFF is being held in the national capital from August 3 to August 6 at Siri Fort Auditorium. PTI RDS ZMN
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