A still from the recently released film 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', which was shot in India
Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; March 30, 2015)

In a positive step towards making India a more friendly country for foreign filmmakers, the Union government is said to be considering a proposal to grant them film visas for hassle-free shooting.

Filmmaker Kinjal Tanna, who represents the Association Of Advertising Producers (ASAP), recently met Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore in this regard. Says Tanna, “Foreign crew frequently visit India for shooting commercials and feature films, but various unions harass them and even ask them to pay a fine for shooting ‘illegally’ in India. So, we have requested the minister to introduce a ‘film visa’ category in all applications forms for foreigners napplying for visa to India.”

Cyrus Pagdiwala, secretary of ASAP, says for every shoot that’s organised in the city, permission is required to be secured from various bodies. “The number of administrative bodies keeps increasing as obviously the bribes, extortion and red tape. Our business of filming is perfectly legit. Yet we get constantly harassed. So, we have suggested for the introduction of a film visa. This will be exclusively for the crew coming to shoot in India and be available on fast-track basis. The producer here will stand guarantee for such imports. This model is already existing in many places like Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai,” he adds.

Tanna says the proposal was received positively and would be discussed further with the Ministry of External Affairs. “Once this is introduced, it will also benefit Indian filmmakers as they frequently hire foreign crew for specialised categories,” he states.

During his meeting with the minister, there was also a discussion on introducing a single window clearance for all shoots across the country, like it has been done by the Gujarat government.

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; March 28, 2014)

The Association of Advertising Producers of India (ASAP), a body consisting of 58 top advertising producers, recently sought the help of Shiv Sena’s cine-wing in a bid to sort out work permits for — yes, you read it right — foreigners they have employed in their projects.

On Tuesday, some members of ASAP met with Akshay Bardapurkar, general secretary of the Shiv Sena Chitrapat Sena (SSCS), to seek their help in pushing the government to expedite the work permit process for foreign artistes and technicians working in their projects.

Speaking to hitlist, Cyrus Pagdiwala, general secretary, ASAP, says, “We met with the union as we seek its help in approaching the Maharashtra government to ensure faster issuance of work permits for foreign technicians and artistes. In the ad world, projects are finalised in a jiffy and often, we have to make a film within just 10 days. But getting a work permit for a foreigner takes at least 40 days. We are then forced to work without permits and then land in trouble for flouting the norms. Often, various unions extort money from us and this whole cycle needs to stop.”

Bardapurkar says that they wish to help the ad producers’ body. “But they cannot be naïve and say that they have no choice but to let foreigners work without permits. I asked them why they hire people illegally, and they were quick to pass the buck to the ad agencies. I also know that this problem has attracted the ire of trade unions, who then extort anything between Rs 2 to 5 lakh from the ad producers,” he says, adding that cops and other law agencies turn a blind eye to such things.

Pagdiwala feels that foreigners should get work permits on arrival. “We don’t mind the government issuing a four-day permit, like it is done in other countries. We have approached several institutions — including the Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) — but nobody is paying any attention to us. We now want to meet Uddhav Thackeray and discuss our problems with him.” Bardapurkar, on the other hand, makes it a point to emphasise that Indian artistes continue to lose their jobs due to an increasing number of ‘foreigners working illegally in the country’. “We are concerned about Indian artistes losing their jobs. Also, some producers don’t even have basic details about the foreign nationals they hire; some of these foreigners are also into illicit activities such as prostitution and drug peddling. This can’t be allowed,” he says.

He further says, “We have found out that units of films such as Vashu Bhagnani’s Humshakals, Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kick, Atul Agnihotri’s O Teri and Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year have illegally hired foreign artistes. These have been roped in to shoot many sequences at different locations, and their number ranges from 20 to 500 models.”