With ‘URI Josh’, Piyush Goyal Makes It Easy for Film Industry to Shoot at Exotic Locations

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in his budget speech today announced the single-window clearance system for Indian filmmakers to shoot without hassle at exquisite locations across the country.

“Single window clearance for ease of shooting films which was earlier only available for foreign film makers will now be available for Indian filmmakers as well," said Goyal.

An anti-camcording provision will also be introduced to Cinematography Act to combat privacy, said Goyal.

While announcing the single window clearance for the Indian filmmakers, Goyal also mentioned Vicky Kaushal’s recently released Uri: The Surgical Strike, which used Serbia’s surreal snowy hillside setting to replicate Kashmir in the film after film’s director Aditya Dhar confirmed in an interview that it was “impossible to shoot in Kashmir."

Praising the film, Goyal said he got the opportunity to watch the movie recently. Also featuring actor and BJP MP Paresh Rawal, the film is based on the Indian Army’s surgical strikes in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in response to the Uri attack of 2016.

“Jo Josh tha wo movie mein (the film was high on energy)," said Goyal as a huge cheer erupted from the politicians.

Producers Guild of India President Siddharth Roy Kapur has thanked the government for "acknowledging" the contribution of Indian cinema towards employment generation in the country.

"The announcement of a single-window clearance mechanism for Indian filmmakers filming within India is a significant step and has the potential to play a huge role in boosting tourism in the country. The amendments in the Anti-Camcording provisions will support the industry’s growth by curtailing illegal recordings of films in cinema halls and will go a long way towards reducing piracy," Kapur said in a statement.

This comes after the film industry got a much needed relief when the government reduced the GST rate on cinema tickets costing over Rs 100 to 18% from 28%. For the cheaper tickets, the rate has been reduced to 12% from 18%.

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