Cannes 2022: India Invites Foreign Producers, Explains 'Filming For Them Made Easier, Simpler'

The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival started on May 17 and will continue until the 28th of May. Several Bollywood celebrities including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Hina Khan among others are already at the mega festival. Several Indian movies are also being screened. Needless to say, the spotlight is on India at Cannes 2022. Amid all this, a panel discussion was held on Thursday which was titled ‘Filming in India: A world of Opportunities’. The motto ‘Come to India, Come home to your Imagination’ was also used to invite foreign producers to come and shoot in India.

During the event, panelists discussed how filming in India is becoming ‘simpler and easier’. They also cited examples of movies and shows like Tenet, A Suitable Boy, Extraction, and The White Tiger to explain how more foreign producers have become attracted to filming in India in recent times. “It’s not money, but its love for cinema that we have in India,” filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda said during the event. He also appreciated how getting permission for shooting at several locations in India has become easy over the years and added that it can be done in merely a few hours now. “As a filmmaker, it really excites me,” he said. He also cited the example of his homeplace Odisha and explained how everything – from hills to rivers is available within the 60 KMs for anyone to shoot.

The panelists also discussed how one of the reasons that foreign filmmakers are attracted to shoot films/shows in India, is also because of its rich culture and heritage.

During the event, Ravinder Bhakar, head of NFDC, explained how the Indian government is also planning to help foreign producers by trying to bring everything under a single window from which the filmmakers can take all needed permissions. He mentioned that people who wish to open theatres in India are also being helped by the government. “Aim is to increase the number of theatres in the country,” he shared. It was also shared that all initiatives are being taken to make shooting easy and hassle-free in Maharashtra.

When suggested that the government should also try to include related images and details of technical people in the portal, NFDC mentioned that it is already being worked upon.

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