The Hindu : Pivotal role for ethnic media: Sushma

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 11, 2003

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Pivotal role for ethnic media: Sushma

By Our Staff Reporter

The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, with film actress and MP, Shabana Azmi, at the Parallel Sessions on Entertainment at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: S. Arneja

NEW DELHI JAN. 10. The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, today called upon the "ethnic media" to convey the correct and true image of religion, language and opinions in India and shared the concern voiced by various participants at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations over the "poor reach" of Indian cinema, increasing lack of understanding of Indian languages abroad and a need to coordinate efforts for promoting Indian values and culture.

Delivering the keynote address at a symposium on "Entertainment, Ethnic Media and Diasporic Identity", she asserted that "ethnic media" had an important role to play in communication between India and its Diaspora as also between the Indian public and foreign communities and declared that an interaction of both print and electronic segments is planned for later this year.

Surrounded by famous film personalities, she noted that while the entertainment sector has created awareness about India the world over like never before, the Government too had taken some very important policy initiatives.

She mentioned the grant of industry status to the entertainment sector, allowing FDI in the print media, privatisation of FM radio, Community Radio Service, opening of KU Band, DTH and liberalised uplinking policy.

Announcing that Prasar Bharati is further strengthening the Doordarshan India Channel to take the best of Doordarshan out to the Indian Diaspora and is looking for distributors abroad, she urged the Diaspora to grab the available opportunities and take up joint ventures as the climate has been made conducive for investment.

The Minister said it was a matter of pride that exports of the entertainment industry, which in 1998 stood at $40 million, crossed $180 million in 2001.

Stating that this entertainment and media explosion had blurred the geographical distances and brought India closer to its Diaspora, she urged continuation of efforts to keep up the progress.

While Ms. Swaraj repeatedly mentioned the word "Diaspora", Rajya Sabha member and actress, Shabana Azmi, said the use of the term Bollywood — as if the Indian film industry was a pale shadow of Hollywood — should be done away with.

Mentioning how greater recognition was now being accorded to Indian cinema and artistes the world over, she said the country was host to a sixth of humanity and the over 40 million population from the sub-continent staying abroad only provided the film industry a greater audience.

Still, she said, poor marketing was the bane of Indian cinema.

The sentiment was shared by many others including Vijay Singh, a film-maker from France, who said when people go out, it is for the realisation of a dream. But then the home becomes a dream. This dual consciousness, he said, was extremely painful and so there was a need for the cinema — which propagates cultural values — to actually expand its reach.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, Yash Chopra, said the fact that the biggest Indian hit films abroad were all deeply embedded in culture and ethos showed how strong the linkages between India and the Diaspora were. He said films, which along with print, music and internet, were the biggest source of identification for the Diaspora, needed to keep the traditions alive.

Actor Kamal Haasan emphasised that Indian cinema needed to keep pace with technology to do well. Pointing out that the success of films nowadays was most unpredictable, he called for vertically integrating the industry to take it out of the clutches of the "mandi" and retailers and make it a better place for the Diaspora to work in.

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