NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Ministry has initiated a series of measures to promote ease of doing business and reiterated government's commitment to work closely with the film industry.
Mittal was speaking at a function where megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the new office premise of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai yesterday.
A number for film personalities including former CBFC Chairman Anupam Kher, Ramesh Sippy, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Pritish Nandy, Manmohan Shetty, Gajendra Chauhan, Kiran Shantaram, Mukesh Sharma were among those present.
CBFC, which had been functioning from the Bharat Bhavan in the White House Complex on Walkeshwar Road since 1950s, was facing severe space constraint against drastic increase in work load.
Mumbai, being the centre of the Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi film industry, accounts for nearly 60% of all certification work of CBFC. During 2015-16, it certified over 11,000 films of various duration including 787 Indian feature films and 690 foreign films for theatrical release in India.
Faced with an acute space constraint, lack of parking facility for visitors, CBFC moved a proposal for allocation of space in the Films Division Complex for a modern, digitally enabled office. It may be recalled that the online film certification system of CBFC was launched by Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi last week.
Ramesh Sippy welcomed the online film certification system saying it would facilitate quicker certification of films.
The Civil Construction Wing of Prasar Bharati has refurbished the new office, which houses the chambers of the Chairman, CEO as well as the Mumbai Regional Office. CBFC, besides its own preview facilities, can now utilize additional preview theatres of Films Division as well to quicken the process of film certification.
The Films Division Complex now houses the offices of Films Division, Children's Film Society of India, CBFC and also the upcoming National Museum of Indian Cinema, which is expected to promote synergy among different institutions of the I &B Ministry.
