Opening its doors to foreign filmmakers, the Government of India has announced a liberalised visa regime for those wanting to shoot at Indian locales.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the new guidelines apply to Pakistani filmmakers as well, but the government will keep in mind concerns about reciprocity and security.
He said several Indian artistes are concerned that Islamabad is not allowing them to perform in Pakistan, though Pakistani artistes have huge fan followings and hold successful shows in India. Playback singer Abhijeet and ghazal singer Jagjit Singh had met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani with a request to debar Pakistani singers from performing in India.
Proposals to shoot foreign feature films or co-productions in India will now be cleared within a maximum of three weeks, Prasad said.
The requirement of showing the completed film before it is officially released to representatives of the government or an Indian mission will now apply only in exceptional cases.
Prasad also said the issue of releasing visas for the purpose of shooting a film will henceforth be separated from the issue of script clearance. Normal visa procedures will be followed and filmmakers need not approach Indian missions after getting an approval letter from the information and broadcasting ministry.
