The MIB strengthens its grip over film institutions

For the film business, the year 2022 appears to bring fresh obstacles. While big-budget films like RRR have been delayed because of the fear of a third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, which might result in theatre closures in some areas, the central government is preparing to integrate several film bodies in order to save costs.

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has decided to merge four public-funded institutions — the Films Division (FD), National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), and Children's Films Society of India (CFSI) — with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) by the end of January, tightening its grip on film institutions even more.

Although the announcement was made in December 2020, an order in this respect was issued last month. DFF is situated in Delhi, whereas NFAI is based in Pune and CFSI and FD are based in Mumbai. The major motive for reorganising these institutions is to turn them into profitable