Tags:
Journalism of Courage
What do you get when you combine a two-hour orientation course on the entertainment industry with a pre-Budget pitch for more sops? Synergy on display at FICCI.
The orientation course was for Information and Broadcasting Minister of State Ravi Shankar Prasad so that he could advocate the same to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.
Subhash Ghai made a strong plea for creating more talent in the country by way of setting film institutes and relaxed norms for co-production with foreign companies.
But the one pitch that the entertainment industry made in unison was rationalisation of the entertainment tax. Film producer Bobby Bedi said despite the conferring industry status on the film industry, a despondency had set in and financial cover was hard to find.
Arun Kumar of Ramoji Films was more direct: Scrap the need for vetting scripts from foreign production houses and open insurance cover from foreign companies to Indian producers. Sony’s Kunal Dasgupta raised the issue of rampant piracy.
The music industry made a pitch for a new tag — the status of a publishing industry as opposed to being categorised as electronic component. Prasad’s reply: The Finance Minister has been apprised and his body language was good.
