Bihar In Mood to Boost Regional Media & Implement A New Film Policy

A new film policy being developed by the Nitish Kumar administration would reward and subsidise directors from around the nation who choose to film in the eastern state, according to Bihar Minister Jitendra Kumar, who made the announcement on Tuesday. The arts and culture minister interacted with filmmakers at the Bihar pavilion at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa and explained the chances the state offers to them.

On the phone from Goa to PTI, Deepak Anand, Additional Secretary of the Bihar government’s Art, Culture and Youth Department, said “The minister declared that Bihar is developing a new film policy under which incentives and subsidies would be provided to filmmakers from all over the nation if they shoot in the state,”.

When the Bihar minister spoke with the filmmakers, Anand was also there.

“The minister believed that Bihar’s participation in IFFI will boost the state’s film industry. The department’s efforts to build up the Bihar pavilion at the international event for the first time were also acknowledged by him “Anand tacked on.

Anand stated that nearly all major production companies from both home and abroad had been invited to visit and learn more about Bihar and to make investments there. We provided answers to several filmmakers after they expressed their concerns, he said.

He further said that after being immensely pleased, a few directors declared their ambition to create web series about Bihar, particularly the Nawada region. They were assured by us that the Bihar government will soon implement a single-window approval procedure for filmmakers. Pankaj Tripathi, a Gopalganj district resident and National Award-winning actor, believes the decision was long overdue.

“Many filmmakers prefer to shoot in Bihar, far from Mumbai, to add authenticity to their work, but because there aren’t enough facilities there, they end up choosing neighbouring Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh or other states instead. The new policy should close the holes, Tripathi told PTI.

While Bollywood A-listers frequently visit the state for promotional events, there haven’t been many examples of movies being filmed there. The renowned Dev Anand and Hema Malini reportedly flew in to film a song sequence for “Johnny Mera Naam” in the 1970s at the ruins of the historic Nalanda university.

The team had left in dissatisfaction due to poor crowd control, which threw a negative light on the state’s reputation for anarchy. Even well-known filmmakers like Prakash Jha, whose films like “Damul,” “Mrityudand,” “Gangaajal,” and “Apaharan” are based on true events in his native state, have steered clear of filming here.

Exceptions like Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi,” Manoj Bajpayee’s “Shool,” and most recently, Arjun Kapoor’s “India’s Most Wanted,” haven’t done much to promote the state, which is rich in locations, a popular vacation spot.

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However, Manoj Tiwari, who is known for producing the biggest-ever Bhojpuri film “Sasura Bada Paise Wala” and for giving his voice to the hit song “Jiya Ho Bihar ke Lala” from “Gangs of Wasseypur” before becoming a BJP MP from Delhi, has some recommendations to make.

“The Bihar government must have a 500 crore rupee corpus fund in place. The funds ought to be used to aid local film producers who want seed money to launch a movie.

“This is crucial to ensuring that the new film strategy has concrete outcomes and does not remain on paper. Putting aside political differences, we are prepared to support Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the BJP MP, whose party is presently engaged in a conflict with the CM’s JD(U), a former NDA partner that has joined the “Mahagathbandhan”.

A crowd-puller in Bihar due to his status as one of the “superstars” of Bhojpuri cinema, Ravi Kishan, who was born in Uttar Pradesh, shares the excitement of Tiwari, a native of Bhabhua town.

The Yogi Adityanath administration is creating movie towns in Gorakhpur and other regions of Uttar Pradesh. There is no shortage of talent or resources in Bihar, and there is no reason the state cannot do the same, asserted Kishan, who is also the BJP MP from Gorakhpur and has been in critically acclaimed Bollywood films like Anurag Kashyap’s “Mukkebaaz”.

The state government appears to be focusing on regional film as well. Bhojpuri cinema may be traced to the 1963 film “Ganga MaiyaTohePiyariChadhaibo,” whose screenplay was written by renowned Bollywood character actor Nazir Hussain, who also starred as the film’s primary protagonist.

Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India, is known for his love of his local dialect and is claimed to have closely followed the film’s production and attended a special screening before it was released.

Over time, Bhojpuri cinema continued to produce money, but it also developed a bad reputation due to excessive sleaze in the content, which discouraged serious filmmakers from making films in Maithili or Magahi, which have a smaller but mostly untapped market.