INDUSTRY WELCOMES
VAJPAYEE GOVT.

The Mumbai film industry has welcomed the newly sworn-in Atal Behari Vajpayee government, hoping that it will provide a stable government along with its 19 coalition partners and implement the promises made in the BJP election manifesto. The industry also hoped that its two stars - Shatrughan Sinha in the Rajya Sabha and Vinod Khanna in the Lok Sabha will promote the interests of the film industry in Parliament.

Said Santosh Singh Jain, president of the Film Federation of India, “We are happy that there is a government at the centre at long last. The FFI has already summoned a meeting to chalk out the industry’s needs, which will be channeled through the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). I hope Sushma Swaraj, the new minister for Information and Broadcasting, is receptive to the industry’s needs and shows tangible results. Previous governments have been biased against the industry, even branding it as having links with the underworld.” Jain also hoped that the new government will consider the industry’s demand for representation in the Prasar Bharati committee, particularly since DD is heavily dependent on films and film-based programmes. NN Sippy, president of the Indian Motion Picture Distributors Association, hoped that the Vajpayee government will do what previous governments have not been able to, such as abolish the ad valorem duty on raw stock since the country does not manufacture any raw stock. “I think the ministers will be sympathetic to the film industry, especially LK Advani who has been an I&B minister before. And I’m sure Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Ram Jethmalani will create a lobby for the film industry in Parliament,” Sippy added. Former FFI president, GP Sippy, said the BJP-led government ought to have made Shatrughan Sinha a minister since he has been a loyal BJP-man for long. “The country and the industry needs a stable government and I hope the present BJP-led coalition will provide it,” added GP Sippy.

J Om Prakash, one of the brains behind the newly-formed United Producers Forum, observed that the BJP was the only party with a clear-cut policy on films. In its manifesto, the party said thzat it would provide institutional finance, encourage regional film industries and remove problems of censorship for neat and clean films, and oppose vulgar and sexy films.”Now that the BJP government has been sworn-in with its allies, I am sure they will keep up their promises,” he added.