Make new film technology affordable

Special Correspondent
PANAJI: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priyaranjan Dasmunsi has urged the film industry to try and bring down the cost of digital and other state-of-the-art technology to make it affordable to the semi-urban and rural people patronising traditional cinema.
Mr. Dasmunsi was inaugurating a seminar on digital entertainment and media industry organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here on Saturday.
On Friday, while speaking as the chief guest at the valedictory function of the “India-The Big Picture Conference-2007” on the theme “Bridging Business and Creativity,” organised by the I&B Ministry and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mr. Dasmunsi echoed the same sentiments in the context of demand from the entertainment industry for laws and regulations to counter piracy.
Mr. Dasmunsi said mere laws or anti-piracy campaigns were not enough. Ensuring affordability for every theatre to get digitalised to reach the benefits of the technology to a substantial chunk of people was a must. Those championing the new technologies in cinema, including digitisation, should first find out a way to make the cinema available to the commoner, he said.
Participating in the CII conference, film director Shekhar Kapoor said the film pirates knew what the consumers needed. While there was arrogance in the corporate sector, the pirates were not arrogant, he added.
He wanted the industry to work out solutions to bridge the time gap between the film release and time taken to reach the masses to tackle piracy.
Source: hindu.com