With an aim to make J&K an attractive destination for film-making once again, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said efforts should be to build a sustainable film and creative industry ecosystem in Jammu & Kashmir with a clear focus on local employment generation.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is striving hard to make the scenic Union Territory a prime location for the Film industry, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, adding that for this there is a need to establish adequate infrastructure for which a relationship with an institution like Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT).
“We are trying to make films in Jammu and Kashmir again. We are trying to restore the film industry in J&K. And if we want Jammu and Kashmir to become an attractive destination for filmmaking, then human talent and post-production capability must be created locally, and that is where a relationship with an institution like IICT becomes important for us,” Abdullah said. The CM was talking to reporters during a visit to IICT.
“IICT and NFDC are establishing a formal relationship so that our students come here and learn new ways of post-production, editing, sound, light, among others,” he stated. The CM hoped that in the future, the hub-and-spoke model that IICT had adopted, with the main campus in Mumbai and satellite centres in other places, would also be established in J&K too.
He has been engaging with filmmakers, producers and delegations from various sections of the business and film industry, inviting them to shoot in Kashmir, while ensuring meaningful participation of local talent. The initiative aims to move beyond Kashmir being merely a shooting location by developing local skills through workshops, talent identification and structured support systems, so that film productions translate into jobs, capacity-building and long-term economic opportunities for the youth of the region.
Those present included Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Wani, MP Shammi Oberoi, MLA Zadibal and Chief Spokesperson & Head of Communications Tanvir Sadiq, MLA Gulmarg Farooq Shah, Director Tourism Kashmir Qamaar Sajjad, and Director Tourism Jammu Dr Vikas Gupta. Representatives and heads of leading industry bodies and organisations, including the Producers Guild of India, Whistling Woods International, Ernst & Young, Western India Cinematographers’ Association, and Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association, among others, were also present.
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