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ShareMumbai: The Film Review Board, whose job is to see Marathi films and categorise them for the purpose of giving government grant to the filmmakers, saw 27 films on one day, a petition before the Bombay High Court contends.
Raj Laxmi Chitra, the petitioner company, contends that the Board could not have assessed so many films in a single day.To give boost to the Marathi flim makers, State government gives grant of upto Rs20 lakh per film. Film Review Board categorises the films into three categories: A, B, and C.
For A category, the grant is Rs20 lakh, for B it is Rs15 lakh, while for C it is Rs5 lakh. Raj Laxmi Chitra produced `Baba Lagin', a film starring Ashok Saraf among others, in 2007 and applied for the grant.
For sometime, it got no reply. In June this year, to a query under Right To Information Act, it received a reply that the flim had been categorised as C grade, and would get Rs5 lakh in grant.
When it sought information as to what were the norms for categorisation, it was told that there were no norms, but film review board consists of experts in the films.
To their shock, the petitioner company found out that on the day their film was reviewed, the board members had seen a total of 27 films. The petition demands that the government frame norms for categorisation of films, and the film produced by Raj Laxmi Chitra be categorised as A.
As per the current scheme, a film-maker must have made at least one film in the past, to be eligible for the grant for the new film. The high court today adjourned the hearing for four weeks, seeking reply from state.
