Line producers draw the line

Even though there is a standard practice of providing allnecessary support, to line producers who essentially cater and provide supportservices to the film industry and also play a very important role in promotingtourism of a country or state, the same is not the case in Goa, a tourist hubin the country. Line producers, here, say that they are not only being harassedby being asked to run from pillar to post to seek permissions but are alsocharged exorbitant charges with no facilities in return.

According to the President of All Goa Line ProducersAssociation Sandeep Kotecha, the Rs. 200 crore industry in the state is facingan uphill task, as despite the state having a single window system catering toall necessary permissions required by the line producers, through theEntertainment Society of Goa (ESG), the ground reality is otherwise. Autonomousbody like municipal corporations, municipalities, village panchayats and other governmentgovernment authorities refuse to acknowledge the ESG’s permissions and levytheir own charges and conditions in addition to ESG fees, he stated.

The line producers association presently has more than 12members affiliated at ESG and are providing direct and indirect employment andbusiness options to around 2000 Goans from every walk of life including juniorartistes, vegetable vendors, hoteliers, caterers, taxi drivers, unskilledmanpower such as spot boys etc. They also help in augmenting the revenues byway of fees collected by the state of Goa besides promoting the entertainmentindustry and state tourism.

“Although money is an issue everywhere but what hurts usmore is the harassment faced by association members at regular intervalsdespite paying heavy fees. For instance some years back CCP used to charge onlyRs 2000 per day but the same has been revised at regular intervals and today weare paying Rs 50,000 for a day for permission to shoot in CCP limits, likewisethere are many hidden or additional charges levied on us. But we get nofacilities” said Kotecha.

“All this adds up to one conclusion that Goa is no longershooting friendly but very expensive with every Govt/semi-govt/autonomous bodylike municipalities/village panchayats extorting money from the soft target ie.Film Crew/ line producers,” he added.

Interestingly Panjim falls under CCP and has variouspotential locations used by the film industry for shooting but in an‘arbitrary’ decision CCP resolved to stop granting permissions and the issuewas raised before the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and the issue wouldprobably be resolved but why should such things happen is a million dollarquestion.

Kicking up a controversy