Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said India
will become the third largest media and entertainment market in the world in
next five years.
Speaking at the inauguration of 54th edition of the International Film
Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji on Monday, Thakur said that for the first
time, IFFI has decided to bestow the best web series OTT award, acknowledging
the transformative role of original content creators in the country.
“India, on one hand, has become the fifth largest economy of the world.
It is also fifth largest in the world in terms of the media and entertainment
industry. In the next five years, India is going to be the third largest
economy in the world as well as the third largest media and entertainment
market,” he said.
The minister said similar to last year’s edition when they initiated some
firsts, the spirit continues with some more firsts in this edition also.
“For the first time and from hereon, IFFI will bestow the best web series
OTT award. It will acknowledge the transformative role of original content
creators in India and celebrate their contribution to employment and
innovation,” he said.
This recognition is also given to OTT (over-the-top media service)
because it entertained people when “everything was closed” during the Covid,
the Union minister said.
“The OTT (segment) is currently growing at a rate of 28 per cent. That is
why we decided to institute this award,” he said.
Another first in this year’s edition is to augment the scope of ‘Film
Bazaar’ (an event held on the festival sidelines) by introducing a well-curated
VFX and tech pavilion to showcase innovation from the cinema world, a
documentary section to support non-fiction story telling, he added.
“For the time, we also present Cine Mela, an extravagant celebration of
our diversity and culture. The IFFI has also introduced a section on restored
classic feature films,” he said.
“We are going to show you seven world premieres of meticulously restored
masterpieces of NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) and NFAI (National
Film Archive of India) under the National Film Heritage Mission,” Thakur said.
Under this mission, 5,000 films and documentaries would be restored and
digitised, he said.
ANI
