Mumbai, the land of Bollywood, is set to roll out the red carpet for filmmakers with a new policy that allows them to shoot at public places for free in a bid to keep filmmakers in the state and not lose them to other states.
Maharashtra cultural affairs minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar, announced that the cabinet will soon be making a decision on the matter.
This is a major step forward for the film industry in the state, as concerns had been raised that film activity may shift to other states.
It is pertinent to note that the move comes after the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath met with stakeholders of the film industry and encouraged them to consider shooting in his state.
This has put pressure on Maharashtra to come up with a plan to keep the film industry thriving within the state. However, Maharashtra is not one to back down easily and in response to this, the state government recently announced a makeover of the 521-acre Film City in Goregaon.
The decision to allow free shooting at public places in the state is part of the government's efforts to make the process of getting permission to shoot more streamlined and efficient.
Currently, the process of getting permission to shoot can take up to 12 weeks, which can be a major obstacle for filmmakers. With this new announcement, the time it takes to get permission will be shortened to just 2 weeks. Producers will not need to go through government machinery to get permission to shoot at public places.
Currently, the government charges a significant fee for shooting at forts and other attractive destination. The charges for iconic Gateway of India is INR 5 lakhs per day for shooting and at forts it is cost at INR 50,000 per day.
Moreover, the decision is not expected to result in any losses for the government. In fact, the state is hoping that more shoots in the city will boost ancillary businesses and lead to more GST income for the state.
The cultural affairs minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar, has stated that this move will lead to more shoots in the city, which will increase the ancillary business, and ultimately result in the state earning GST of 28% on film-related activities.
It is worth noting that the move to allow free shooting at public places in the state does not apply to the Film City in Goregaon. Film City is currently undergoing a makeover and is not included in this announcement.
Popular shooting locations in Maharashtra include forts at Worli, Bandra and Sewri, as well as Gateway of India and other public places in Mumbai. With this new announcement, filmmakers will be able to shoot at these locations for free, which will make the state even more attractive to filmmakers.
The state has also recently given a 50% discount to Marathi films for shooting at Film City.
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