Australian Film Fest concludes
Govt working to provide best facilities to film-makers: CM Vijay Bahuguna
On the last day of the Australian Film Festival h
CM Bahuguna said it was a matter of pride that the Australian festival was being organised for the first time in Doon. “The state has huge potential in film making and could also obtain international attention because of the good scenic beauty available here.”
“In recent times, Uttarakhand has been visited by many Bollywood and international film-makers. Blessed with natural beauty, the state has many more locations for shooting films than are available in Canada or Switzerland,” he added.
He expressed confidence that festivals like these would encourage tourism here as well as film makers. The government was working to fashion a good film policy and provide excellent facilities to film-makers coming here.
The state was also coming up with 22 helipads to provide better connectivity. One of these would be at Sahastradhara connecting with various places. The Naini Saini and Pantnagar Airfields were also being extended.
He said that in the coming times, all kinds of tourism would increase, especially ‘film tourism’. The Editor of Garhwal Post and Director of the Festival in Doon, Satish Sharma, thanked the Chief Minister for coming to the festival and also Anupam Sharma for holding a film festival, here.
Coming out of Silver City after seeing ‘Bollywood Star’, a viewer, B Banerjee said, “As a documentary it is actually stunning. The treatment given to the film was outstanding. I asked Anupam Sharma whether it was created and he said it was shot live. I would say it is a superb example of documentary making.”
Volnia, another viewer, said, “It was an interesting piece of work, it was fun watching it. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Raees Ahmed said, “This shows that people around the world have huge interest in Bollywood and they are passionate about it. The entire movie is fun to watch.”
Also present on the occasion was Secretary Dr Umakant Panwar, DG, Information, Dilip JaWalkar, Chairman of the Himalaya Drug Company Dr S Farooq, Dr Satish John, Director of Silver City Suyash Agarwal and others.
On the occasion, Samadhan’s Chairperson Renu D Singh also brought to the CM’s notice the increasing violence against women. The CM promised that any kind of violence against women would not be tolerated. They would be provided a better and safe environment.
