The ‘Most Film Friendly’ state in India

State of Madhya Pradesh bagged the award for the Most Film Friendly State for its efforts towards easing filming in the State by creating a well-structured web site, film friendly infrastructure, offering incentives, maintaining databases, undertaking marketing and promotional initiatives.

The Most Film Friendly State Award was announced today by the Chairman of the Jury, Ramesh Sippy. The Awards will be presented by Hon’ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind on May 3rd, 2018 during the presentation of the National Film Awards.

Madhya Pradesh was unanimously selected from the 16 states participated. Madhya Pradesh also received positive feedback from established filmmakers who have shot there. The efforts taken by the State to present their case for the Awards were also appreciated. Uttarakhand is given a Special Mention Certificate to recognize the efforts made by the state towards creating a film friendly environment.

“The Jury members laud the continuing efforts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat towards creating a film friendly eco system in their States and hope that they keep up the good work. This year Madhya Pradesh where a lot of filmmakers have shot over the years, has won the award due to the ease of filming that the State offers along with excellent on ground support and filmic infrastructure, an informative website and incentives for film making. Their entry was also presented beautifully with all required documents given in a very comprehensive manner. In addition, the jury would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts made by Uttarakhand in this direction, despite it being a relatively new State with a difficult terrain and hence has been given the Special Mention,” said Ramesh Sippy Chairman of the Jury.

The jury for selecting the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017 was chaired by acclaimed filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and comprising of renowned filmmakers, Nagraj Manjule, Raja Krishna Menon, Vivek Agnihotri, and Uday Singh, MD, Motion Picture Distributors Association.

Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram,  Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim,  Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were the 16 states that participated in the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017.