French honour conferred upon Sajid Nadiadwala

Bollywood filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala was on Tuesday conferred France's prestigious Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) award. He is thankful for the honour.

The honour is conferred on persons who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the field of art, culture and literature or for their contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler conferred the honour in recognition of Nadiadwala's contribution to boosting Indo-French partnership in cinema.

"I am very thankful to the French embassy for the honour that they have conferred upon me," Nadiadwala, whose last movie "Tamasha" was shot widely in France's picturesque Corsica island, said in a statement.

"France is a beautiful country which is not completely tapped into in our films. Shooting there has been such a delight thanks to the cooperation from them. Looking forward to associating with them more in the near future," added the producer.

Some noted Indian recipients of this honour in the past include the late Sivaji Ganesan, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, superstar Shah Rukh Khan and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan among others.

Nadiadwala, who has backed films including "Judwaa", "Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega", Mujhse Shaadi Karogi" and "Housefull", hails from a family of film stalwarts who have produced between them over 200 films since as early as 1955.

He learnt the ropes of filmmaking with hands-on-experience. So he chose to enter the arena of cinema as a production assistant soon after his graduation, and worked his way up the ladder of the family-run production house.

In 1990, he took over the family run production house and spearheaded the company into an era of unprecedented success under the banner Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. He even directed "Kick".

"Tamashaa", his latest film, became the first Indian production to benefit from France's attractive film production incentive, TRIP (Tax Rebate for International Production), granted through the French Film Commission.

TRIP supports non-French projects that are completely or partly made in France, involving European cultural elements in the story as well as French and European locations, characters, sources, landmarks, creators, crew and French technical hubs.

The amount allocated comprises 30 per cent of the film expenditure incurred in France.