The New Year has brought with it a new development for the entertainment industry, as the Films Division, the Children’s Film Society of India, the Directorate of Film Festivals and the National Film Archive of India will henceforth come under the broader umbrella of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). This merger has raised many questions in the minds of industry insiders.

“The merger was formally completed on December 31. This step is going to increase transparency in the system with effective utilisation of resources,” says Ravinder Bhakar, MD of NFDC.

When first proposed in December 2020, the idea of a merger was opposed by several filmmakers, including Anand Patwardhan, Nandita Das as well as actor Naseeruddin Shah. Cut to today, the sentiment remains the same.

Das tells us, “The merger is truly distressing. These bodies were created with specific objectives. By merging them, we will be diminishing their unique contributions. The decision was taken without consulting the major stakeholders who would be affected by it, including filmmakers and the hundreds of workers employed in these organizations.”

To this, Patwardhan adds, “These are public bodies made with public money, and now, they are privatized. The most painful thing is the loss of archives.”

However, Bhakar doesn’t understand the discontent: “Earlier, there was a lot of duplication of work. Now, we will be utilizing whatever assets are available with us overall. It is one unit.”

Filmmaker Shyam Benegal says he is keen on understanding the way forward, with the merger in place: “The Films Division has been facing problems for a long time as there is no need for films of that nature. The organization would have shut automatically, had it not been a government body... I am excited to see what changes with the merger.”