Cinema has created an identity for India in the world: I&B Minister Anurag Thakur

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur today visited the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) located at the Films Division Complex on Pedder Road, Mumbai.

The Museum housed in two buildings – the 19th century heritage structure the Gulshan Mahal and the custom built New Museum Building, caught the attention of the Minister. After taking a visual tour of the Museum, the Minister remarked  “National Museum of Indian Cinema is a must-visit for those interested in films especially Indian films; your visit to Mumbai will be incomplete if you don’t visit NMIC when you are in Mumbai.”

Shri Thakur encouraged the film buffs and film enthusiasts across the country to visit the NMIC to know about the history of Indian cinema and its evolution. “Spend some time here in NMIC and the Museum will take you back 100 years, when cinema was made without any modern day technology or equipment,” he said. “Today we talk about Animation, Visual Effects, Graphics and Gaming, technology, but here we will get to see how films were made in those days in the absence of these and what progress has been made until today,” he added. The Minister also remarked about the pain taken by the film makers and technicians of those times in carrying such big cameras on rough terrain to shoot films. He said how technology has brought ease to human life and to film making itself.

While displays at Gulshan Mahal heritage building, spread over eight different halls of various sizes, trace the history of Indian Cinema from silent era to new wave, the New Museum Building houses mostly interactive displays.

Film properties, vintage equipments, posters, copies of important films, promotional leaflets, sound tracks, trailers, transparencies, old cinema magazines, statistics covering film making & distribution etc. are displayed in a systematic manner depicting the history of Indian cinema in a chronological order. Director General of Films Division Ravindra Bhakar gave an overview of the Museum.

Cinema is India’s greatest soft power
Speaking about the role of cinema the I&B Minister said, “Indian cinema is our country’s soft power which rules the hearts of millions of people across the world.” He also remarked that through entertainment, Indian cinema has succeeded in creating an identity for India in the world. He said, highest number of films in the world are made in India.

As is customary, the Minister also planted a sapling at the premises of the NMIC and held a review meeting with the officials of Films Division, NMIC, Central Board of Film Certification and NFDC. In May, the NMIC Complex, comprising state-of-the-art auditoriums, will host the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts and Animation Films (MIFF).

Earlier in the day, the Minister inaugurated the Times Group’s India Economic Conclave and delivered the key-note address. BCS Bureau