Firdausul Hasan after becoming the President of Film Federation of India

Film Federation of India moots a formula for a reinforced PPP with GoI

towards boosting footfalls in cinema houses, creating more jobs, realising the

industry’s true potential as a contributor to the national economy and

expanding its footprint and strengthening its presence in India and across the

world.

The newly elected Executive Committee of Film Federation of India (FFI) met in Delhi today

to take up some urgent burning issues that have been plaguing the Indian Film Industry for

quite some time now, such as, greater industry representation in Government bodies,

more screens, restoring and rejuvenating single screens, localised Animal Welfare Board

offices, boosting film tourism and more…all on FFI radar; but first and foremost,

reclassifying the Indian Film Industry!

Reclassifying the Indian Film Industry

Do you know that in the Government annals, the Indian Film Industry is seen as a Sin

Industry, in line with beedi, tobacco, alcohol among others. This archaic classification has

made the industry a ready and easy target for taxation. In the new GST regime, Luxury

goods and Sin goods are taxed at highest rate of 28%.

It is only recently the Government has relaxed its stand and decided to lend a helping hand

to the Industry in the form of a) partially relaxed GST on tickets b) intent to create a Single

Window Clearance for the industry and c) willingness to working jointly with the industry to

curb piracy.

“FFI has always been a pro-active organisation and worked together with the Government

of the times since its inception,” says President Firdaus ul Hasan, “and is more than willing

to constructively help support and complement the Indian government in its efforts to

strengthen Indian cinema”.

Piracy

One of the primary reasons for piracy is lack of easy access to the latest films.

India certified nearly 2000 films in 2017-18, bare 600-700 films made their way to cinema

halls and those that did had restricted access due to lack of shows and unrestricted ticket

prices in states like Maharashtra.

India needs 30,000 screens has less than 10,000.

Save the Single Screens

Make conversion to multiplexes easier

We need to immediately arrest the closure of Single Screen theatres and making norms

easier for converting urban single screens to multi-screen hubs. We need tax holidays and

rebates together with reduced custom duties and the like to enhancing footfalls with

affordable ticket pricing.

Indo-Bangla Film Awards

Indian movies are extremely popular in all our neighbouring countries. But in most of these

countries there is no proper-lateral agreement in place for import, distribution and

exhibition of Indian films, hence pirated copies find their way to these markets. For

example, in Bangladesh our movies are very popular yet they are not screened in theatres.

We have to begin a process to change this,” Mr Hasan said. As a part of this effort to

address this an Indo-Bangla awards ceremony is being planned in October this year where

actors, directors and producers from both the countries will be honoured for their

contribution and a favourable atmosphere created for Indian movies.

Global Cinema Festival

Strangely enough, good cinema is not easily available in India, too. Consequently, FFI plans

to organise an international film festival in a city other than the big metros to promote

movies and the region for tourism and investment from film fraternity for shooting purpose.

Animal Welfare Board

Another issue is that of the Animal Welfare Board. While FFI understands the importance of

the Board, its operation out of Haryana makes the process of seeking compliance entangled

and lengthy considering that nearly 2000 films go for certification every year. Hence, FFI

proposes that at least two members of the film fraternity be incorporated in the Board so

that they can explain the process of using animals and also take into cognizance the care

and difficulties. It further proposes that like the censor boards in each region, an Animal

Welfare Board be opened along with it so that it can be gathered at one go along with CBFC

certificates.