Films play an important role in India's projection as a soft power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
"In India's image as a soft power, films have played a major role. It attracts the world to India," Modi said while inaugurating the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in Mumbai amid a galaxy of film personalities including, recipients of Padma awards, Dadasaheb Phalke awards and several national award winners.
According to the prime minister, films play an important role in branding India. "Our characters in films have a global appeal," he said.
Modi said that films reflect the realities of the society. "India is changing... if we have a million problems, we have a billion solutions," he said.
He said that the Indian cinema has an international appeal and suggested that we must have a global entertainment summit in India on a regular basis similar to the World Economic Forum at Davos.
He also said that tourism and films go hand in hand and in fact some of the tourist places are popular because of films. "Tourism gives employment to poor people, even a chaiwallah," the prime minister said.
Modi also assured that amendments are being worked out to tackle piracy. Besides, he said that a single window system would be in place for permissions related to shooting and filmmaking.
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