Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of National Film DevelopmentCorporation

Timestamp:

Jun 28, 2012, 3:32:04 PM (12 years ago)

Author:

Trupti

Comment:

--

National Film DevelopmentCorporation

@@ +1 @@
+'''National Film Development
+Corporation'''
+
+
+The Film Finance Corporation was set up in
+1960 on the recommendation of the S.K. Patil
+Film Enquiry Committee Report (1951). Initially
+controlled by the Ministry of Finance, it was
+transferred to the Ministry of Information &
+Broadcasting in 1964. Its original objective was
+to promote and assist the mainstream film
+industry by ‘providing, affording or procuring
+finance or other facilities for the production of
+films of good standard’. In its first six years, it
+extended production loans for c.50 films,
+notably Ray’s Charulata (1964), Nayak
+(1966) and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1968).
+Under the direct influence of Prime Minister
+Indira Gandhi, the FFC initiated the New
+Indian Cinema with Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan
+Shome and Mani Kaul’s Uski Roti (both
+1969). In 1971, the I & B Ministry laid down, as
+part of the FFC’s obligations, the directive that
+it ‘develop the film in India into an effective
+instrument for the promotion of national
+culture, education and healthy entertainment
+[b]y granting loans for modest but off-beat films
+of talented and promising people in the field’.
+The new policy yielded instant results as a
+whole generation of new film-makers was
+allowed to emerge. However, both the terms
+on which loans were granted (usually requiring
+collateral from producers) and the limited
+distribution outlets, exacerbated by the FFC/
+NFDC’s apparent inability to build its own
+exhibition network, gave their films a
+reputation for lacking ‘financial viability’. In
+1968 the FFC’s remit was extended to include
+distribution and export. In 1973 it became the
+channelling agency for imported raw stock,
+and in 1974 (after the withdrawal of the
+MPEAA from the Indian market) it started
+importing foreign films for local distribution.
+These activities soon became the FFC’s major
+profit centres leading to an increasing
+marginalisation of its film production/
+financing responsibilities. By 1976, the FFC’s
+independent cinema policy came under
+withering attack from various quarters. The
+Committee on Public Undertakings issued a
+Report (79th Report, 1976) on the FFC arguing
+that ‘there is no inherent contradiction
+between artistic films of good standard and
+films successful at the box office [and] the
+Corporation should [s]atisfy itself in all
+possible ways that the films [h]ave a
+reasonable prospect of being commercially
+successful’. In 1980 the current NFDC was
+established by amalgamating the FFC with the
+partially state-owned Indian Motion Pictures
+Export Corporation (IMPEC), making it the
+sole canalising agent for the import of all
+foreign films, with incentives to non-resident
+Indians to buy, import and distribute foreign
+films in India. Between 1981 and 1988 the
+NFDC was also the parent organisation for the
+Directorate of Film Festivals. With the
+haphazard extensions of its remit and the
+repeated policy shifts imposed on it, the
+absence of a clear definition of the NFDC’s
+responsibilities to the Indian cinema has
+remained a persistent problem. In spite of its
+monopolistic privileges in the 80s the NFDC
+continued to describe itself as a victim of state
+policies on e.g. taxation. The 1983-4 chairman,
+Hrishikesh Mukherjee, stated in the 1984
+report that ‘Unhealthy and underhand dealings
+particularly in the big cities are a part of the
+national distribution and exhibition system.
+Unless and until one becomes a part of this
+racket, it is practically impossible to operate in
+this area.’ Consequently, the NFDC sought to
+institutionalise a confused desire for ‘good’
+cinema, measured mainly in terms of national
+film awards and international film festival
+exposure, that should be able to make a profit
+in a market where it could not compete with
+the industrial cinema’s levels of expenditure
+on exhibition, production and promotion. In
+the early 90s the NFDC changed again, its coproduction
+policy with 
+Doordarshan effectively shielding it from most industrial
+pressures. In 1993 the NFDC took over
+Doordarshan’s private Metro Channel and later
+its ‘Movie Club’ film channel.
+
+[[Glossary]]