THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a nearly three-and-a-half-decade stint, it’s curtains down on the lone branch office of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in the state. The Mumbai-headquartered central agency, established for the development and promotion of films, is winding up all operations in the state before October 31, on the grounds that its Kerala branch office, located in Thiruvananthapuram, has not been ‘generating revenue’.
Besides a regional office in Chennai, NFDC’s only other office in south India is located in Kerala. NFDC’s branch office in Kerala was established in 1990 after a special initiative by former Chief Minister K Karunakaran to support budding filmmakers and provide them with national and international exposure.
The branch office was instrumental in the production of many Malayalam films, including Farook A Rahiman’s Kaliyachan and T V Chandran’s Mangamma. Besides liaising with the headquarters for arranging production funds for films from the state, the Kerala branch also handles work related to monthly pensions for cine artistes who have fallen on hard times.
In 2012, there were attempts to shift the NFDC branch office to another state. But the move was averted following the intervention of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry had informed the government that NFDC could continue operations if it provided facilities such as land and office space.
The government then accommodated NFDC in KSFDC’s Chitranjali studio complex to retain the agency in the state. However, NFDC headquarters continued to neglect the Kerala branch, with the Chennai regional office being assigned to directly deal with the filmmakers in the state.
Besides, the scripts of around 10 Malayalam films have been awaiting approval for funding from the NFDC headquarters. “The scripts were kept pending for many years prompting filmmakers to either shelve the projects or seek other alternatives,” a source said.
The NFDC headquarters has also not given any directions on the alternative arrangements for the 65 indigent artists who receive pensions, after the shutdown of the Kerala branch office, which carries out annual mustering of the pensioners and verification of pension-related documents. Calls and text messages from TNIE to NFDC MD Prithul Kumar remained unanswered.
“The next annual mustering is due in December and pensioners have not received any communication from NFDC. Most of them are above 75 years of age and it is not possible for them to travel to Chennai for pension-related matters,” said N P Radhakrishnan Nair, general secretary of All Kerala Cinema-Serial Artists & Workers’ Association.