Mumbai- Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Sarmad Hafeez Monday appealed to the film fraternity of the country to renew its decades’ old romance with Jammu and Kashmir even as he pitched for making the UT as the premier shooting destination of India.
Attending the national level Film Tourism symposium, organized jointly by the Ministries of Tourism & Information & Broadcasting here this evening, the Tourism Secretary dwelt in detail on the long and age old relationship Jammu & Kashmir has had with Bollywood and other film platforms of the country. He reminded the film industry of its warm and affectionate relationship with Jammu & Kashmir which the people of the UT so fondly recall. He appealed the members of film world to take up this thread of warm relationship forward and start re visiting Jammu & Kashmir in good numbers for shooting.
Asking the film fraternity to partner with UT administration in this regard, Sarmad Hafeez said the Government has recently put in place a comprehensive Film Policy by which film shooting and production in J&K has been institutionalized and incentivized. In a detailed presentation about the Film Policy, he outlined the thrust areas and scope for working on film projects in J&K. He said for the first time shootings in the UT have been incentivized and requisite infrastructure for the same is being made available.
Union Secretary, Tourism, Arvind Singh; Secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Apurva Chandra; Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Ganji Kamlavardhan Rao; Additional Director General, Tourism, Rupinder Brar, Head, Film Facilitation Office, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), Vikramjit Roy also spoke on the occasion.
Nine States and Union Territories namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra were present on the occasion to showcase the initiatives undertaken by them towards ease of filming as well as the opportunities available in their jurisdictions.
On the occasion several Bollywood producers shared their experiences of Kashmir and said that they have special love for the place. They assured of their support in turning to UT for shooting again.
Producer Trade Associations and Film Chambers of Commerce from across the country participated in the symposium. Representatives from Film Federation of India (FFI), Indian Film & TV Producers Council (IFTPC), Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), Producers Guild of India (PGI), Motion Pictures Association, India, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), Indian Film & Television Directors Association (IFTDA), Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM), Western India Film Producers Association (WIFPA), Film Makers Combine, Asian Society of Film and Television (AAFT), MX Player, Amazon Prime, Voot, The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, Producers’ Council, Assam, Filmmakers Association of Nagaland (FAN), Bengal Film and Television Chamber of Commerce (BFTCC), Sikkim Film Cooperative Society and Film and Television Producers Guild of South India, Motion Pictures Association of America (India Office) are attending the symposium.
Earlier in the day, the Secretary Tourism had a series of meetings with representatives of several tourism trade bodies based here.
A delegation of members of the Travel Agents Federation of India exhibited keen interest in several products being offered by Jammu & Kashmir Tourism including MICE and corporate tourism. Several other delegations also met Sarmad Hafeez and enquired about the potential of various segments like adventure tourism, winter sports, spring festivals etc.