U'khand film conclave: Smriti Irani pushes for content creation in local dialects

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Union minister Smriti Irani on Friday asked the Uttarakhand government to encourage content creation in multiple local dialects to make the most of the boom in the digital media market.

Addressing a daylong film conclave in Mussoorie, the Union minister for women and child development said the reach of the digital media had grown exponentially in the country in recent years.

She urged the government to make the most of the opportunities available in the field of content creation to ensure the promotion of local dialects.

Noting that content in local dialects drove growth of the digital media market whose reach in terms of value was likely to touch USD 5.1 billion by 2021, the union minister asked Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to focus on forming a special working group for content creation.

Talking about the multi-lingual strengths of Uttarakhand, she said as many as 20 different dialects were being spoken in Dehradun district alone.

So, this is an opportunity for aspiring filmmakers to create content in local languages, she said.

Chief Minister Rawat said the state's film policy had been revised and filmmakers were being given a number of concessions to make it attractive to shoot their films in Uttarakhand.

Apart from beautiful locations in the state, a single window clearance system had been put in place to make Uttarakhand an ideal destination for film shooting, he said.

He said the ideas that emerge from the deliberations at the conclave would be implemented to further increase facilities for filmmakers in Uttarakhand.

The conclave which was held as part of the week-long state foundation day celebrations was attended by several dignitaries from the film world, including filmmakers Tigmanshu Dhulia and Muzaffar Ali.