Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan gestures during a press conference in New Delhi yesterday. Chan is in India to inaugurate the Chinese Film Festival and held a special screening of his film Chinese Zodiac.
IANS/New Delhi
After the popularity of Bollywood hit film 3 Idiots in China, official-level talks were held here yesterday on working out ways to screen more Indian films in that country as well as enter into film co-production.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari held delegation level talks with his visiting Chinese counterpart Cai Fuchao here over lunch.
According to the details worked out, China is to be the guest country at next year’s India International Film Festival in Goa. It will also have a presence at this year’s film festival with a selection of classical Chinese films.
The film academies of both countries - the Film and Television Institute of India and the Beijing Film Academy - are to have regular exchange programmes.
Tewari, addressing the media after the more than one-and-a-half-hour talks, said both sides felt the need to further strengthen people-to-people contacts.
“Both felt through enhanced cultural exchanges, exchange in the field of films, of personnel in our public broadcasters and co-operation between our private film industry and the industry in China and regular exchanges between our film institutes will help promote further understanding between our two countries.”
Cai said the visit last month of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had helped bring about greater consensus between both countries and yesterday’s talks would help give a further fillip to bilateral mutual understanding and co-operation.
A Chinese film festival also kicked off at Siri Fort yesterday evening with the screening of Chinese Zodiac starring action hero Jackie Chan.
According to an official source, with Bollywood films 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan proving popular in China, both sides held talks to “relax” the quota of Indian films allowed into China. Beijing is keen on screening classical Hindi films rather than many of the new Bollywood potboilers, the source added.
India and China have formed a joint working group on the proposals, the source said.
China allows 10 Hollywood films to be screened every year and New Delhi has asked to allow five Indian films for screening, according to the source.
With Hindi TV serials also proving popular, the Indian side also pushed for “landing rights” of Indian channels to be able to screen more serials, the official added.