Gujarat govt announces new policy for incentives to Gujarati films

Gandhinagar

Gujarat government today announced a new policy to give incentives to Gujarati film industry. As per the new policy announced by state government spokesperson and minister Shri Nitin Patel, films will be divided into A,B,C and D four categories and incentives will be given as per the category of film. 81-100 points will secure ‘A’ category, 61-80 will secure ‘B’ grade, 51-60 ‘C’, 41-50 ‘D’ while films that are given below 41 points will not find place in any category.

Until now fix amount of Rs 5 lakh was given as subsidy to Gujarati films without any scrutiny for its quality and success, but now onward ‘A’ category film will get Rs 50 lakh assistance while ‘B’ category film will get Rs 25 lakh assistance. The lowest amount of assistance will be Rs 5 lakh in ‘D’ category. Assistance will be either 75% of production cost or grade wise amount fixed by the government, whichever lower.

Film will be examined by Film Screening Committee which will have 10 members. Average points will be given from total 80 points allocated to 13 departments of a film. 20 points will be given from number of tickets sold by multiplex and theaters in Gujarat. 20 points will be given as per the report by distributor of film.

– 81 or more points – A grade – Rs 50 lakh or 75% of production cost whichever less

– 61-80 points – B grade – Rs 25 lakh or 75% of production cost whichever less

– 51-60 points – C grade – Rs 10 lakh or 75% of production cost whichever less

– 41-50 points – D grade – Rs 5 lakh or 75% of production cost whichever less

– Children film and women empowerment related film will get additional 25% financial assistance.

Further assistance in range of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore will be given to the films that win specific awards. For Oscar this assistance will be Rs 5 crore, Cannes Rs 5 crore, Berlin International film Festival Rs 3 crore, Venice International Film Festival Rs 3 crore, Golden Peacock Award at International Film Festival of India organized by Government of India Rs 2 crore, Moscow International Film Festival Rs 2 crore, Toronto International Film Festival Rs 2 crore, Busan International Film Festival Rs 2 crore, Hongkong International Film Festival Rs 2 crore, Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival Rs 2 crore, International Film Festival Rotterdam(IFFR) Rs 2 crore. Regional language category ‘Rajat Kamal’ national award by Government of India Rs 1 crore.

Films with CBFC ‘A’ certificate will not qualify for assistance. Films will need to be captured in 35 mm, 2k resolution with 5.1 digital surround sound. Films will need to be at least 100 minutes long. Dubbed, copied, mixed, blow up films will not qualify for this assistance scheme. Films that violate copyright will not qualify for assistance.

Films promoting social evils, sati tradition, superstition, misleading people over controversial issues, promoting something which is against national unity or found objectionable due to other related issues will not be qualified for assistance.

100% tax waiver will continue.

Meeting of government committee will be held every 3 months to implement this scheme. Assistant amount will be deposited directly to producer’s bank account. Artists and technicians will be given prizes 32 categories. The amount of such prizes has been doubled.

The new policy has been made on the basis of KPMG report submitted to government. It is quite a much on Maharashtra model. However in Maharashtra, only 50% of production cost is given as assistance while in Gujarat, the new policy will avail 75% production cost to makers.


official note:

With a view to give thrust to regional cinema, Gujarat Government today announced a new improved policy to promote and encourage production of quality films in Gujarati Cinema, popularly known as ‘Dhollywood’.

Ever since the dawn of multiplex culture, there has been growing demand for urban Gujarati films and the new policy of Gujarat government is expected to address these demands by offering financial assistance and support to the aspiring filmmakers.

Aimed at ushering in a new era of Gujarati cinema, the new policy has been formulated under the guidance of noted personalities from the entertainment world. Besides noted actors Mr Manoj Joshi, Mr Naresh Kanodia, Ms Swapna Waghmare Joshi and Ms Apara Mehta, other prominent names include director Mr Abhishek Jain, musician Mr Gaurang Vyas, script writer Mr Mihir Bhuta and several others.

Salient Feature of the New Policy for Gujarati Films:

Quality and public perception of the film has been given the top most priority in the new policy.

– A Film Screening Committee comprising of 10 experts will be setup to assess every film.

– Besides Film Screening Committee, public response to the film will be taken into consideration in the assessment of the film.

– Based on the assessment of the committee and public response, films will be given grades.

– On the basis of the grades, the filmmaker will receive financial assistance ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

– Children’s Film and films revolving around the subject of ‘Women Empowerment’ will receive additional 25 per cent financial assistance.

– Gujarati films that receive Government of India’s ‘Rajat Kamal’ award will be given Rs 1 crore reward.

– Similarly, any Gujarati film that wins award at International stage will be given reward ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 2 crore.

– Financial assistance and support will be extended to a film only if it is shot on 35mm or has 2K Resolution/Higher Format.

– Alongside maintaining the resolution and quality of the picture, film should have Sound Recording Digital Surround Sound 5.1 (Dolby Digital/ Dolby SR/ DTS/ DTSE) or upgraded technology.

– As primary requisite to avail benefits of the new policy, film should be having minimum 100 minutes running time.

The new policy will encourage production of good-quality Gujarati films that will help spread essence of Gujarati culture. Not only will it help take Gujarati culture far and wide, policy by attracting more and more audience towards Gujarati cinema willencourage use of Gujarati language among the youth.Considering several technicians are required during the entire filmmaking process, increase in the number of Gujarati films will also generate employment; thus giving better employment opportunities to the youth. Boosting prospects of the Gujarati cinema, the new policy will encourage the filmmakers to make Gujarati films that will put Dhollywood on par with other regional cinemas.

– DeshGujarat