THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a move to address the film fraternity’s long-standing concern of piracy, Cultural Affairs Minister P C Vishnunadh said that the government will institute more anti-piracy enforcement bodies in the state. “We have only one office in Thiruvananthapuram to counter piracy. The film body representatives have requested to start two more such bodies in Kochi and Malabar, which the government will soon initiate,” the minister told the press after taking part in a meeting with the representatives of various film bodies at Hotel Mascot here on Tuesday.
Speaking about the not-so-industry-friendly approach in shooting films at protected sites, Vishnunadh said that the government will consider setting up a ‘single-window portal’ for obtaining such clearances.
“With the state going through a financial crisis, we cannot take a quick decision about waiving entertainment taxes, which was raised by both technicians and theatre owners. But we will look into the issue,” he added. The minister also commented that the government is actively searching for suitable candidates for the apex posts in the government’s film institutions.
To a query whether the recent issue in AMMA was discussed in the meeting, Vishnunadh said that the association will solve it internally. “The current issue is an internal one, and they have assured that they will solve it. But if a situation arises that the government needs to interfere in it, we don’t even need a formal complaint,” he said.
AMMA general secretary Cuckoo Parameswaran, who represented the body in the meeting, also told TNIE that the issue was not discussed here. “It is an internal issue, which may take a maximum of a week for us to solve,” she said.
Actress Jolly Chirayath and editor Beena Paul represented Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) in the meeting.
“The discussion was more of a briefing from our side, what we have been talking about in the last few years, rather than raising any demands. The minister has also not read the Hema Committee Report, and we hope for constructive actions from the government,” Jolly told TNIE.
