The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has opened a formal consultation with India’s film industry, asking for specific, evidence-backed suggestions on financing, distribution, exhibition and overseas growth. The exercise will feed a High-Level Study Group on the Indian Film Industry chaired by Prasoon Joshi, widening the table beyond studios and trade associations to include independent professionals, technicians, OTT platforms and individual stakeholders.
For Hindi cinema, the questions under review are not abstract. Access to institutional funding has long been uneven, theatrical release economics depend on exhibition capacity, and box-office reporting remains a recurring point of contention. A consultation that treats these as connected problems is a shift worth watching.
What the Ministry is asking
The November 3 invitation does not set a fresh deadline for submissions or for the group’s final report. It asks stakeholders to send actionable suggestions, supported by information where available. The areas identified include:
- Access to institutional finance and alternative funding mechanisms
- Distribution networks, market access and exhibition infrastructure
- Box-office data systems and transparency
- Film festivals, incentives and international co-productions
- Skills, overseas market presence and emerging technologies
There is a clear policy thread running through the list: make production capital easier to raise, make release planning more transparent, and make Indian films easier to sell abroad.
The committee behind the consultation
The High-Level Study Group brings together government and industry names. Prasoon Joshi chairs it; other members include NFDC chairman G Krishna Kumar, actor Kartik Aaryan, filmmakers Ashutosh Gowariker and Vivek Agnihotri, Ravi Kottarakara, Bimal Parekh, Aparna Purohit and producer Ritesh Sidhwani. The Joint Secretary (Films) at MIB will serve as Member Secretary. A Ministry notification dated October 29 superseded an earlier July 17 order and revised the group’s composition.
This is not a standalone initiative. It follows a June 29 review meeting at which Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that a high-level group would be constituted. At that stage, the government said the group would examine institutional funding, alternative financing, production and distribution barriers, artificial intelligence and virtual production, and would engage state governments.
Why exhibition and box-office data matter
Cinema exhibition is governed by the State List, so licensing and operating rules vary from state to state. The Ministry has already circulated Model State Cinema Regulations to state governments, offering support for adoption and arguing that uniform rules could help expand theatres in smaller towns and rural markets.
Box-office data systems sit on the same table as funding and distribution because investors, producers and exhibitors make release and recovery decisions using that information. If the data is patchy or contested, the risk around theatrical investment rises. That is a friction point the study group is being asked to address rather than leave to trade debate.
The near-term signal
The June announcement had envisaged a report within three months. The latest consultation notice does not give an updated reporting timeline. That leaves the sector in a familiar position: the direction of travel is clear, but the timetable is open. Stakeholders who want the committee to hear specific problems should treat the absence of a fresh deadline as a reason to file inputs early, with evidence attached.
Bollywood Chronicle will follow the consultation as it moves from submissions to recommendations.
Source: MediaNews4U
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