Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has said cinema, as a soft power can play a major role in nation branding initiative.
He stressed the role being played by the cinema in other Indian languages.
“It is not just the Hindi movies, but also the films in Indian languages that are getting vast audience nationally and internationally.
He was addressing the valedictory session of two-day seminar on ‘Indian Cinema and Soft Power’ where discussions on ways to take forward Indian films to global audience held in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“Indian film industry and the Government today recognize the potential of culture at the highest level. Depiction of one’s culture is a very strong component -of any country’s soft power”, he said.
India has potential to become content sub-continent of the world.
The capacities of nation to make themselves attractive in a global market place for ideas has become an important aspect of contemporary international relations, the minister said.
ICCR President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said, more than 95 participants from various parts of the country participated in the seminar which discussed the idea of Indian Cinema and its Soft power probably for the first time.
To enhance the reach of Indian films across the world, Sahasrabuddhe advocated for institutional arrangements for subtitling Indian films in a number of foreign languages, particularly in the languages of countries where India’s cultural influence is strong viz Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan etc.
Sahasrabuddhe informed ICCR will organize a national seminar on Foreign Languages Training in India and Soft Power.
The ICCR President said we can pitch our Language Cinema to the NRIs, who are nostalgic about their culture that they left behind.
He said ‘A category such as ‘Soft Power Promotion Friendly Films’ could be introduced in Film Awards. ‘Those films that show a comprehensive and correct understanding about India could be awarded under the category’, he added.
