The following is an excerpt from Sudha Tiwari’s The State and New Cinema in Contemporary India published by Routledge.
The Film Enquiry Committee (1949)
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting noted in 1948-49 that an enquiry into the film industry was necessary. The last enquiry was conducted in 1927-28. A fresh enquiry was necessary in view of the growth of the film industry since that time, in order to examine how the organisation of the industry could be improved and on what lines its future development should be directed. A Film Enquiry Committee was formed on September 2, 1949 by the Government of India to “make recommendations regarding its further development as an industry and as a medium of education and entertainment”.
Sudha Tiwari,
The State and New Cinema in Contemporary India,
Published by Routledge (2024).
According to Kumar Shahani, “the intention of calling for that report to be written was absolutely Nehruvian…it fitted into the kind of state that Nehru imagined…should be created for the Indian nation”. The Committee was constituted by a Resolution of the government of India in the MIB dated 29 August 1949. As per the Resolution, the government of India did regard “the importance of the cinema in modern life and the magnitude and complexity of the problems relating to films”, making it essential to conduct a thorough enquiry into the film industry. Of the three important terms of reference given to the Committee, one of them was, “To examine what measures should be adopted to enable films in India to develop into an effective instrument for the promotion of national culture, education and healthy entertainment.” (Emphasis added). The Chairman of the Committee was S.K. Patil (Member, Constituent Assembly), and the rest of the members included M. Satyanarayana (Member, Constituent Assembly), V. Shantaram (Rajkamal Kalamandir Ltd., Bombay), B.N. Sircar (New Theatres Ltd., Calcutta), Dr. R.P. Tripathi (Head of the History Department, Allahabad University), V. Shankar (I.C.S., representing MIB), and S. Gopalan (Secretary of the Committee).
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Response to the Film Enquiry Committee Report and its Recommendations
In 1954, when the recommendations were finally discussed in Parliament, Mr. Patil was disappointed again at the callous attitude of the government and at its turning down of the most important recommendation of the Report, i.e. the Film Finance Corporation (FFC). The government had declined the establishment of a film corporation with the usual excuse of the “priorities of expenditure to meet the urgent requirements of the development projects and programmes of the Five Year Plan”. The government had also rejected one of its other central suggestions, the forming of a statutory Film Council of India citing similar reasons. Mr. Patil opposed the government’s proposal to establish a National Film Board which was to direct and supervise the work of the proposed Film Production Bureau and the Film Institute. He said that such an arrangement would be an “enlarged edition of the present Central Board of Film Censors”.
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The FFC in the Making
One sees two united voices emerging from filmmakers and producers: that there is a need to change the way Indian cinema looks, and that financing and changing the production ethics is the key to bring radical changes in the Indian film industry. Many from within and outside the film industry saw the state playing a crucial role in bringing these two changes. Though the state was present in all these debates and discussions, in providing a platform to the film community to come together and discuss the issues troubling the industry, it was still hesitant to take up its responsibilities towards the film industry. The recommendations of the Film Enquiry Committee were yet to be taken up seriously by the government.
The press reported in May 1954 that the government had rejected the FFC plan. Dr. B.V. Keskar, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, presented a statement to the Parliament on the action taken by the government on the recommendations of the Film Enquiry Committee. The government had decided instead to set up a National Film Board with a view to “developing the film as a medium of national culture, education and healthy entertainment”.
The Board was to direct and supervise the work of two new bodies, the Film Production Bureau and the Film Institute. The Film Production Bureau would give advice on scripts, offer guidance to producers on various aspects of production such as story, scenario, artistic talent, and cost estimates. It would provide a library and research service. The functions of the Bureau would be purely advisory. The Ministry told the Parliament that in the present state of the industry, the setting up of a representative statutory Film Council of India, as recommended by the Enquiry Committee, would not be advisable. It was feared that such a Council, at this stage – when there are diverse elements in the industry in different stages of development and with the attendant difficulty of reconciling several interests – would find it difficult to wield authority and take the responsibility of shaping the affairs of the industry. The Government would, however, be prepared to encourage any move on the part of the film industry itself to form a Film Council based on voluntary co-operation.
The Committee’s recommendation for an FFC was found “unacceptable both in view of more urgent commitments under the Five-Year Plan and the business risks involved in the proposal.” It only offered ‘suitable machinery by legislation’ if producers were inclined to find necessary funds for a corporation by contributions or otherwise. The government had, however, decided in principle to provide suitable grants for specific purposes such as the production of educational and children’s films. In October 1954, State Awards for Films were inaugurated “to encourage production of films of a high aesthetic and technical standard and educative and cultural value”. Films like Shyamchi Aai (1953) and Do Bigha Zamin were presented with the President’s Gold Medal and Certificate of Merit respectively. These decisions received a mixed response. The FFI urged the government to help stabilise the film industry by creating a film finance corporation as early as possible on mutually acceptable terms and conditions.
By September 1956, the government yielded to the demand for a finance corporation. News came that the government had decided to constitute a National Film Board and a Film Finance Corporation to help the development of the motion picture industry. First rejected, it was later realised that the film industry with its “tremendous educative and entertainment values, should be given State aid for proper development.” The proposed Board was to have, as its constituent units, the present censorship organisation, a production bureau, and a film institute. The FFC would initially have a capital of Rs one crore. The Bill to this effect was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 10 December 1956. The National Film Board was being set up “to promote the development of film as a medium of culture, education and healthy entertainment.” The FFC was to render financial assistance to film producers by way of loans. The Annual Report also informed that the form and details of organisation and the general principles governing the method of financing were being worked out.
However, there was again a long silence on the formation of the Corporation and the Board. While replying to a debate on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha in December 1958, Dr. Keskar stated that the government was taking steps to establish an FFC “on a modest scale”. He also said that the preliminary work in this direction was already over, and the question would have been taken up much earlier but for the financial difficulties of the government. He also advised the gathering of producers, exhibitors, distributors, and film artistes to organise itself on sound business lines to overcome its financial and other difficulties. He invited the industry’s co-operation in achieving the ideal of a “wealthy and prosperous country”. He also stressed that the film industry was essentially a “social industry”. It provided entertainment and also served as a medium of instruction to the masses. It had, therefore, an important part to play in the evolution of society. It should not divorce itself from the society from which it drew its sustenance. Ministers still used phrases like “duty to society”, “people’s and the country’s welfare in their minds”, and films having a “beneficial influence” in their speeches and statements while talking about the film industry. Mr. Keskar was told that the Indian film industry was still facing the problem of lack of finance, and the high rates of interest which the producers had inevitably to pay the financiers were aggravating the problems. A suggestion was placed with the Minister that the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) could help the industry, with its large funds, by advancing loans.
The Film Finance Corporation Limited finally came into existence in March 1960. It started functioning in May 1960 in its Bombay office, with the appointment of a nine-member board of directors with Mr. N.D. Mehrotra, a retired Income-tax Commissioner, as Chairman. The main objectives of the Corporation were: to promote and assist the film industry by providing, affording, or procuring finance, and/or other facilities for the production of films of good standard and quality with a view to raising the standard of films produced. The FFC started with an authorised capital of Rs one crore to be subscribed entirely by the government of India.
Sudha Tiwari teaches History at the School of Liberal Studies and Media, UPES, Dehradun.
