Promotion of tourism, arts, & cuisine key to UP’s progress: Film-makers at UP Pravasi Diwas

Tourism enables the socio-economic emancipation of the state. Making this opening remark at a session titled ‘Uttar Pradesh the soft power – special focus on art, culture, lifestyle, design & tourism in Uttar Pradesh’ at the U.P. Pravasi Diwas organised in Agra by the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh by NRI Department and FICCI, film-maker Rajah Muzaffar Ali said that through art, each region and sub-region is able to assert its own distinct identity. Art also plays a key role in globalizing Uttar Pradesh, he observed.

Credited with making the first ever film on Girmitiyas, Australia based Producer, Director and Publisher Satish Chand Rai said that plans are afoot to make a major film on the story of Girmitiyas. Girmitiyas were bound laborer from the state, taken to Fiji (1833-1916) to work on sugar plantations.

Roney Simon, Director, Via Michele Diverio and FICCI representative in Italy, said that arts and crafts in Uttar Pradesh will flourish if international design capabilities are established in the state. Such institutions can help the artisans to make world class products.

To this, Navneet Kumar Sehgal, Principal Secretary, Information Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, responded by saying that the Government has established a Design Centre under the leadership of Zohra Chatterjee and that NRIs and PIOs may look to collaborate with this centre for the promotion of arts and crafts.

Rahul Mitra, Producer & CEO, Wave Cinemas, said there is scope for promoting film-induced tourism in the state. He called for a single window mechanism for extending support to film making in the state.

Renowned singer Anoop Jalota urged the Government to provide suitable support to famed artists who have fallen into difficult personal circumstances. Sehgal informed the gathering that the UP Government will provide pension to artists in need.

Stating emphatically that the Government should continue to respect freedom of expression and allow contrarian views to emerge through films, Sudhir Mishra, Film Producer and Director urged the Government to set up a film institute in the state, perhaps with focus on screenplay and editing to begin with.

Alka Bhatnagar, Cultural Ambassador of UP in USA, spoke about how NRIs in the US maintain deep interest in Indian music. She spoke about holding shows in the state to support universities that promote art and culture.

Suggesting the Government to launch a Wajid Ali Shah Festival, Meera Ali, Producer, Kotwara Studio, called for a mechanism to extend design support to the weavers of Varanasi.

Neeraj Ghaywan, Film Director, said that subsidy may also be extended to projects wherein books on UP are adapted to films. He also said that a platform should be created to promote the folklore of Uttar Pradesh.

In the interactive session, the panel favourably received a suggestion on creating a writers workshop.

Image Courtesy: India Today