NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the government is keen on promoting children’s’ films by facilitating expansion of their reach as this would help in the all-round development of the young.
The Minister was speaking at a review meeting with the Children’s Film Society India (CFSI), in Mumbai on 21 June. He also held review meetings of media units like the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the Films Division and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The Minister said the films produced by the CFSI needs to be promoted and marketed well. “If the films are made and we are not able to release them, then the end result will be nil,” he observed.
Agreeing with a suggestion, Javadekar said the budget for promotion and marketing should be a built-in component of CFSI films’ overall budget. The minister observed that though CFSI films win national and international awards, they fail to reach wider audience due to weak distribution “We need to explore all options, including outsourcing of distribution to make our films reach far and wide,” he added.
The Minister complimented CFSI for organising the biennial Golden Elephant International Children’s Film Festival in Hyderabad, but said that there was a need to take the children’s film festival culture to many other cities and states. He said his Ministry would lend support to organising such film festivals in all the states of the country.
Besides promoting films through conventional distribution channels, Javadekar also stressed on distributing them through informal rural communication channels with the help of Directorate of Field Publicity, supported by the Song and Drama Division. He said for this purpose, various religious and community fairs, jatras etc could be targeted to reach out to maximum audience.
The Minister also held a meeting with a group of film producers and television industry leaders. Those participating in the meeting briefed the minister about various challenges being faced by the film industry and drew his attention to action required from his Ministry. Additional secretary (Films) Raghavendra Singh was also present in the meeting coordinated by Shaina N C and attended by Dalip Tahil, Durga Jasraj, Manish Goswami, and Raveen Kohli among others.
