New Delhi ;HMIB Anurag Singh Thakur addressed the valedictory session of the program Dakshin-South India Media & Entertainment summit 2023 which was organized by CII, southern Region at Chennai. During his address at the session, the Minister appreciated Films like RRR and documentaries like Elephant Whispers which created history at the Oscars. He said that these films have brought glory & pride to Indian cinema. He also quoted that Honourable PM recently met Bomman and Bellie, the inspiration behind the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whispers at the Theppakadu elephant camp, Nilgris.
Minister stated that it is high time that the films must ensure the changing aspirations of rural India transformations that are taking place in the country and show light on the life of unsung heroes from remote towns and hamlets of India. While mentioning the contribution made by the Irular Community Minister mentioned the Expert snake captures from the Irula community vadivel Gopal and masi sadaiyan who were conferred with Padma Shri awards this year. The irular community plays an important role in the healthcare ecosystem of India by helping in collection of the anti-venoms and using their indigenous knowledge inherited from their forefathers to save a life. These not-so-common man stories must be chronicled on the silver screen.
HMIB also reiterated that last year a lot of filmmakers from South represented at Cannes. Recently the Saurastra- Tamil Sangamam was inaugurated at Somnath in Gujarath and before that, the Kasi-Tamil Sangamam program, 100’s people who have come from Dakshin to Kasi Vishwanath which shows the connection between these two regions is not for few years but for centuries. The PM is working in the right direction to recognize the cultural heritage of India.
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry continues to undertake efforts to grow the media and entertainment sector to reach the target of 70 billion US dollars by 2030 from 30 billion US dollars as of today. Digital Technologies such as gaming, OTT, and digital advertising alone have a critical role to play as they are contributing to two third of this growth. Minister said that he strongly believes that India has the potential to lead the globe through its audio-visual industry owing to investment-friendly and business-friendly accessibility to skilled resources and expertise, affordable data cost, and the largest ever population of young people with shifting consumption habits. The Minister said that India has become the most populous nation yesterday which we have to celebrate. He asked the film industry to bring out good quality content not only at the regional but also pan-India level. Minister urged that its high time to come up with skill development courses to attract skill and talent to produce content of International Standard.