In the next five years, India is expected to rise to the third position in the global media and entertainment sector, according to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
Speaking on Monday at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) opening in Panaji, Thakur also announced that the festival has chosen to present the best web series OTT prize for the first time, recognizing the revolutionary role that original content producers have played in the nation.
On the one hand, India’s economy has grown to become the world’s fifth biggest. In terms of the media and entertainment sector, it is ranked seventh globally. India would have the third-largest economy in the world in the next five years, along with the third-largest media and entertainment sector, the speaker said.
According to the minister, the spirit of the previous year’s edition, in which several firsts were introduced, is carried over into this one with a few more firsts.
“IFFI will now give out the best web series OTT award for the first time. It will highlight their commitment to employment and innovation and recognize the revolutionary role of original content producers in India,” he added.
In addition, the Union minister said that OTT (over-the-top media service) deserves this honor for providing entertainment to people during the COVID-19 epidemic, when “everything was closed”.
“The OTT (sector) is expanding at a pace of 28% right now. We chose to establish this prize for that reason,” he said.
He said that this year’s edition also marks a first in expanding the scope of the “Film Bazaar,” a festival side event, by adding a documentary area to encourage the telling of non-fiction stories and a carefully selected VFX and tech pavilion to highlight innovation in the film industry.
“We also provide Cine Mela, an extravagant celebration of our culture and diversity, for the time being. A section on restored vintage feature films has also been added to the IFFI,” he stated.
“We are going to show you seven world premieres of meticulously restored masterpieces of NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) and NFAI (National Film Archive of India) under the National Film Heritage Mission,” Thakur said.
He said that 5,000 movies and documentaries will be digitalized and repaired as part of this project.
