Union minister for information and broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu speaking while inaugurating the 7th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Sunday.Panaji: The demonetization move launched by prime minister Narendra Modi to clean the economy should have a positive impact on the country’s film industry too, union minister for information and broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu said Sunday.
Addressing a large audience here at the inauguration of the 47th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Naidu hailed the gesture of film personalities who welcomed the central government’s surprise demonetization of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in a proclaimed to bid to weed out black money from the economy.
“A national project of unprecedented behavioral change has been set in motion in our country. On the 8th of this month currencies of high value denomination were demonetized. This process of change touches every citizen,” Naidu said.
Aslo read: 'Cinema, the religion without boundaries' celebrated as IFFI 2016 begins
He said the demonetization project was part of PM Modi’s attempts to create a Swachh Bhartah (Clean India). “Like one’s body and mind, the money also has to be white so that you can really sleep well. Today many people can't sleep well as they have stashed large amounts of unaccounted money. The cleansing is going on,” Naidu told the crowd, that included film personalities from various parts of the world.
A known admirer of PM Modi, Naidu reiterated that ‘MODI’ stands for ‘Making of Developed India’.
“Let's all join that campaign. Let's clean ourselves and set examples,” he said.
The minister said the first film on demonetization made in India was 'Vijayalakshmi' directed by the late BR Panthulu in 1946. “The film presents the negative roles of money and the big sharks who gain profits at the cost of the ordinary citizens. Even after 70 years, such greedy sharks are there in our country. That's why PM Modi launched the initiative,” he said.
There may be some bad money in every field, in politics, in public life and even in cinema. We have to get rid of it at the earliest to have a peaceful life.
“The PM's initiative should bring good to the film industry also. I'm happy that the first set of persons who welcomed the move were from cinema industry,” he said.
Film personalities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had welcomed the demonetization move and hailed it as a big step towards eradicating black money.
The surprise announcement by PM Modi on demonetization has evoked a mixed response from the society. While some argued that it would bring radical changes in the economy, many have criticized it as a less thought out move which would cause huge losses.
The move has already caused an unprecedented chaos across the country with banks and ATMs witnessing serpentine queues of people who want to exchange devalued notes or withdraw money.
The move ha a devastating effect on the public, especially those in the lower strata of society.
The festival will feature around 300 films from nearly 90 countries in various sections. This edition of the IFFI, the biggest film festival in the country, will draw to a close on November 28.
