NEW DELHI: In a first, to ease the process of shooting a film on trains or at railway stations, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's Film Facilitation Office (FFO) and the Ministry of Railways have collaborated to create a 'single window filming mechanism'.
This website aims to make the process of getting permission to film across railways premises more efficient.
Rajiv Jain, additional director general (ADG) of PR of Railway, said that "the shooting of many films in the past were completed at the-eye-catching railway and its cinematic locations."
"Until now, international and Indian film-makers had to visit the offices of Chief Public Relation Officer (CPROs) of the concerned railway zone or the railway board for obtaining permission for filming," added Jain.
He said "with this new arrangement, seeking permission would be hassle free for the film producers and makers."
Once the film-maker or producer uploads the application on www.ffo.org.in for seeking permission for shooting, the FFO will automatically start facilitating the process in tandem with the railway officials.
Many sites with splendid natural and cinematic beauties are under the jurisdiction of 12 railway zones in the country. The film-makers make their first choice to those locations of railways.
"The permission within the shortest possible timeframe would get upload on the site of FFO. The film-makers can download the permission from the FFO On being asked about the objective of such a first move, he said that integration with FFO of Indian Railway is aimed at reducing the number of windows that producers have to access to obtain permission for filming in various eye-catching natural locations of railways.
According to Apurva Chandra, secretary of I&B, the idea is to create value for filming by way of easing the process across various jurisdictions like railways, which offer unique, distinctive locations for cinematic experiences.
The FFO will accept now the applications for permissions for the shooting of feature movies, websites and TV shows on behalf of the railways but for making documentary and music videos or AV commercial AV, one will have to apply to the railways directly.