Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; November 4, 2016)

The quest to win an Oscar doesn’t come cheap. Realising that, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) recently announced a film promotion fund for India’s official entry to the Academy Awards and films selected for major international festivals. And makers of Tamil film, Visaaranai, which is India’s Oscar entry, couldn’t be more thrilled.

“This is absolutely great news,” gushes Vetrimaaran, the film’s director who is currently in the US. “We have often seen that films, which represent the country, have strong content, but fail to secure a nomination due to lack of funds for publicity in the West. This initiative by the government will benefit filmmakers to promote Indian cinema on a global platform and encourage them to make more films.”

Produced by Dhanush’s banner, the National Award-winning film is centered on four migrant workers, who suffer police brutality after being jailed on false charges. The film’s subject was loosely based on Coimbatore-based rickshaw driver M Chandrakumar’s memoir of sorts, Lock Up.

As announced, the government will take care of expenses for hiring a publicist, travel of director, maker and key talent to make appearance at the red carpet and press meets, accommodation, screenings, advertising and networking. The proposed fund value for films selected to represent India at the Oscars would be in the range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The decision for providing the assistance would be based on recommendations of a panel of experts constituted by the government. The announcement was made I& B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu at the press meet of the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).