3 mega projects okayed

Ministry of Culture has approved three mega projects for the revival of Pakistan Film Industry (Lollywood) that is suffering from a series of issues that have almost caused a once thriving industry to cease to exist.

Sources told ‘The News’ that one of the major projects was to conduct ‘NAFDEC’ awards on regular basis in which the award winning category would be conferred with a handsome amount of money so that the filmmakers could be motivated to produce better movies.

“The best film would get two million rupees, best script writer would receive Rs1.5 million, best director would be conferred with Rs0.5 million,” he said while adding that the best actor category would receive Rs0.5 million and best costume designer would get Rs0.1 million.

He said that previously the whole award function was used to be conducted in Rs1.1 million where the biggest award for the best movie gets the prize money only Rs50,000 whereas the budget for the new awards has been approved as Rs12 million.

The other categories include the best singer, best lyricist, best song, best screenplay, best choreographer and best supporting actor where each category would be awarded with cash prizes.

He said that the increased award money would definitely motivate the people associated to film industry to produce better movies while it would also create an atmosphere of competition in them.

The second major project is the ‘Film finance fund’ in which one movie would be financed by the Ministry of Culture. “Almost 200 to 300 million rupees would be financed for a movie with a powerful script,” he said.

He said that the feasibility report of the project is almost ready but the mechanism to select a movie for financial support is still under consideration. “There should be an assurance that the money would be utilised in a proper manner,” he said.

The source pointed out that there were cases in the history when producers grabbed huge amount of money from the government on the name of financial assistance and left the country. “The two names Jamil Dehlwi and A J Kaddar are worth mentioning here who grabbed about 2 million rupees in 80’s and left the country,” he added.

He said that the fund was allocated with the purpose to produce films of international level that could be showcased on International Film Festivals organised regularly in different parts of the world.

The establishment of National Film Academy (NFA) is another major step taken for the up to date training of actors, directors, producers and other technical staff. “It is to be established on the plot for NAFDEC acquired 30 years ago at H-8 but a long procedure is involved for the transfer of plot to Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA),” he said.

“The work on the project could only be start when the land would be transferred to PNCA,” he said while adding that Rs24 million were required to pay as ground rent of the land for the transfer of the land.

He said that NFA was a huge project that requires a big amount of money for its completion. “Almost Rs800 million are required for the completion of project while it could be completed in three to four years if the work starts on the project right now,” he said.