Bollywood producers and actors including Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar held meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan in Maharashtra to discuss upon issues being faced by the Indian film industry.
The delegation also included famous producers like Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ritesh Sidhwani, Ronnie Screwvala, Rakesh Roshan and chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Prasoon Joshi etc.
The film fraternity team gave an outline of the vast growth potential of media as well as entertainment industry to the Prime Minister. They also asked for lower and uniform GST rates for the entertainment industry in India.
PM Modi said that the Indian entertainment industry enjoys vast popularity all over the world. And is one of the key elements of country’s rising soft power status, internationally. He gave assurance to them that the Central Government is supportive of the media and film industry and would mull over the suggestions positively.
This was the second meeting between the filmmakers and Prime Minister of India since October 2018. The last meeting was held in Delhi.
As per the industry sources, Ritesh Sidhwani has asked the PM to look towards treating cinema as an ‘industry’ by recognizing its contribution to the country’s exchequer and fiscal growth and in endorsing bilateral ties between countries as a global cultural ambassador.
Sources informed that “This was a joint effort to come forward, discuss issues and seek solutions directly from the Prime Minister” adding that “the PM has assured the delegation that he will personally work towards establishing a special committee to look into the matters and tackle them urgently”.
Indian PM is currently in Maharashtra and will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth Rs 41000 crore in the state.
