Budget 2019: Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced Budget 2019 on Friday in which he made a special announcement for Indian filmmakers. In an announcement, Piyush Goyal stated that a single window clearance for filmmaking will be made available for Indian filmmakers which were earlier available only for foreign filmmakers. We got in touch with film critic Girish Johar to know his views. Talking to Financial Express online, Girish said, “I expected a little more from the budget, but still single window clearance for filmmaking is a good start towards the entertainment industry.”

Interestingly during Budget 2019’s presentation, Piyush Goyal didn’t miss to mention Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam starrer URI: The Surgical Strike. In a speech, Goyal said, “Saw URI movie. There was such josh in the theatre.” Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal invited smiles and cheer in the parliament as he mentioned the Indian film industry. He also stated that Bollywood provides employment to a large sector.

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Moreover, the finance minister also announced that the introduction of an anti-camcording provision in the Cinematography Act to take action against piracy. He mentioned that the employment rate was high in the film industry. Also, in the 2018 budget, Government set aside Rs 110 crore for cybersecurity projects, including the National Cyber Security Co-ordination Centre and others. However, it had failed to prevent piracy.
However, Girish was positive that the government addressed the industry’s concerns. He said, “we have always been a bit neglected, but thankfully the government has introduced the anti-camcording provision in the Cinematography Act which will be treated as an action against piracy. It’s really a good move for producers and filmmakers.”

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Apart from piracy and single window clearance, Piyush Goyal also mentioned that the government has decreased GST percentage on movie ticket prices to 12% which was earlier 18%.

Directed by Aditya Dhar, Uri revolved around the Indian military’s surgical strike on terror launch pads in Pakistan. The movie was released on January 11. Uri also starred actor-politician Paresh Rawal who played the role of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. In real life too, Doval was instrumental in the planned surgical strikes on part of India. For the betterment of Indian Cinema, PM Narendra Modi had also inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai recently.