Budget 2019: Bollywood filmmakers laud anti-camcording provision in Cinematography Act

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As Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced that the government will include an anti-camcording provision in the Cinematography Act to control piracy, members of the Hindi film fraternity lauded the government for it.

"A lot of films are stolen from cinema halls. So, we really appreciate this move," Uday Singh, Managing Director, Motion Picture Association, told IANS.

Calling the provision a "significant step", filmmaker Anees Bazmee, who has helmed films like "Welcome" and "Mubarakan", told IANS that the "Anti-camcording provision is the need of the hour as piracy is one of the causes for the loss of revenue. It will be helpful in taking strict action against the offenders."

Siddharth Roy Kapur, President, Producers Guild of India, also agreed that piracy in India "has always been a very big concern".

He hailed the government and said: "The amendments in the Anti-camcording provision will support the industry's growth by curtailing illegal recordings of films in cinema halls and will go a long way towards reducing piracy."

National Award-winning filmmaker Omung Kumar also said the anti-camcording provision is a "good step towards curbing film piracy in our country".

"The anti-camcording provision which prohibits the illegal filming and recording of films in theatres and otherwise should definitely help in controlling and eventually preventing film piracy."

Sunir Khetrapal, CEO of Azure Entertainment, hoped that the provision "terminates piracy as a whole and the offenders are punished...This will also help the films to collect better revenues".

Welcoming the government's initiative, Rajesh Mishra, CEO, Indian Operations, UFO Moviez told IANS: "This will give teeth to the law to take stringent action against the offender."

However, filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava told IANS that she is not sure about the impact the provision will have on fighting piracy.

"Piracy of films creates huge losses for the film industry so any move to curb and curtail piracy is welcome. How much impact the anti-camcording provision will have, one cannot say right now. But let's hope it has a significant impact," she added.

Goyal also announced that there will be a single window clearance for Indian filmmakers for smooth shooting of films.

Omung Kumar told IANS: "The single window clearance mechanism for Indian filmmakers is a welcoming step which was earlier available only for foreign films. This will help us reduce the time spent and avoid the trouble in seeking the various permissions required before beginning the shoot of any film."

National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar took to Twitter and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government for initiating Anti-Camcording provision in the Cinematography Act to fight piracy and for the single window clearance for film shootings.

"This will help the film industry in a big way," he added.