"We can be Thankful that in the Entertainment Business, the Sun will Never Set”: Siddharth on Post COVID-19 Situation

One of the largest, oldest and the apex business organizations in India is the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, also known as FICCI. Every year since 2001, a convention called FICCI Frames has been organised where prominent personalities from the Media and Entertainment sector come together and conduct panel discussions on various topics.

This year, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the organization decided to host a virtual convention called E-Frames 2020. The event which commenced today, saw a lot of influential names from the Indian industry come together which included a valedictory session with Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI; Mr Siddharth Roy Kapur, President, Producers Guild of India; Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways; Mr D Suresh Babu, Telugu Film Producer Distributor, Exhibitor and Studio Owner and Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI. 

The notable personalities spoke on the very relevant topic in the current scenario, How to put COVID-19 behind us: The Way Forward. The luminaries spoke about how the industry will have to adapt to the new normal and make sure that we come through this situation with new learnings. 

Mr. Piyush Goyal shared, “COVID has left a very significant impact on the film business and associated segments. We will have to adapt to the new ways of working and emerge as an innovative and resilient sector. India can become a global leader in the film industry. There is no reason why we can't produce good English films.

We can talk to the other countries to get benefits and remove bottlenecks faced by the Indian film industry. We must look at -- Can India become the provider of creativity and advertising to the whole world. I will talk to the States to look at how we can shoot more films in India. FICCI and film industry could help us devise a mechanism for single-window clearance for shooting films in India. If all the stakeholders come together, we can surely make it much easier to do business in India.”

Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapur said, “The viewership of TV channels and OTT platforms have gone up considerably and by any conceivable measure you can see that people want to be entertained and that is not something that a global pandemic however dire can take away. So, in a way we can be thankful that in the media and entertainment business, the sun will never set.”

Government and industry leaders were both hopeful for the future of the Indian Media and Entertainment industry.

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