- The ruling dispensation at the Centre helmed by the Prime Minister is vociferous and passionate about spearheading a campaign to encourage Made in India to boost domestic businesses. His clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat has resonated across the country and beyond receiving no less than tremendous encouragement from the Indian business houses hoping to encounter ease of doing business here at last. We all have experienced in one or the other ways in recent times how our dependency on foreign markets and products/commodities, read China as a primary case, has rendered us extremely vulnerable as the Dragon Nation attempts to further its expansionist misadventures.
PC: grmarc
- Thus, self-reliance ought to be given every possible importance and platform to gain traction. In stark contrast, there are certain states under the garb of upholding culture and tradition that are proving to be antithetical to the very idea of promoting self-reliance by attracting businesses from diverse fields. Take for instance the Madhya Pradesh Home Minister recently announced that the state government has finalized guidelines whereby anybody wanting to shoot a film, OTT drama or even an advertisement will have to submit a complete script to the collector’s office, and the officer will decide if there is anything objectionable in it before saying yes or no.
- Alongside overseeing land administration, revenue collection, health, education, disaster management, and other goings-on in the district MP collectors will henceforth judge entertainment as well. As if the collectors are flush with time, resources, and wherewithal. Come to think of it, MP is presumably a relatively poor state that can definitely do with all the business it gets, and simply appear to not mind losing the film shooting business. Make no mistake, filmmakers blessed with an abundance of choices in India and abroad will sidestep a state where local administrators will be culture arbiters as well out with censorship and scissors.
PC: starline
- Of course, MP’s decision is terrible news in a democratic country like India and one that prides itself in the soft power of its film and entertainment industry. The pandemic-induced challenges have ushered in a welcome paradigm shift in filmmaking as OTT productions, as well as some movie hall releases produced here, are receiving good responses from critics and audiences abroad. Mind you, India is a major market and content producer for the fast-growing OTT platforms as it has the humongous audience and the talent to boot as well. However, this rich ecosystem available is largely predicated on creative freedom and not obscurantist viewpoints emanating from culture purists.
PC: pch.vector
- Unfortunately, MP has pioneered a rule that, if replicated, can easily deal a body blow to that freedom. In our country, bad ideas have a way of replicating across states – witness how many states have adopted the self-defeating rule on private industry reserving jobs for locals. As such, if other state governments wish to prove they are as culturally conservative as MP, a flourishing industry with a global footprint will suffer prematurely. Not only that, India’s admirable reputation of being a soft power too will suffer as also lead to consequences outside the film industry as well. Reconsideration on the issue is in order.
