Zonga Tser Tso, please…along with Madhuri Lake!

The recent initiative of the government of Arunachal Pradesh, and in particular that of Chief
Minister Pema Khandu to woo filmmakers from Mumbai to come and shoot films in the State
is indeed laudable. Film tourism, if handled well, can actually do wonders for the promotion
of tourism in the state.

For one, it will ensure that just like at one point of time song and dance sequences of
Bollywood films which were shot in Switzerland made it a popular destination for Indians
travelling abroad- when it enthused Indian tourists to spend literally vast amounts of money
and fly to Switzerland to see for themselves the sights and wonders which were showcased
in films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - Bern and Fribourg, Gstaad and the Jungfrau, Lake
Lauenen, the rolling meadows, the snow covered Alps and the ubiquitous Swiss cows with
bells.

And if what transpired in Mumbai earlier this month and the enthusiasm seen in the
filmmakers is any indication, it would soon be true of our State too, when filmmakers from
Mumbai would come and shoot on location here. An obvious instance that comes to mind is
that of Koyla, which was shot in Tawang district and featured the waterfalls near Jang and the
iconic Zonga Tser Tso, the lake that became so much more popular as Madhuri Lake, quite
like how Lake Lauenen is called Yash Chopra Lake. Here too, it did fuel the imagination of
tourists from as far away as Kolkata, Mumbai and Gujarat who thronged to Tawang to actually
come see the sights for themselves, just as at one point of time others did to Switzerland and
the Maldives.

The more recent example of Rangoon which was shot here in the vicinity of Pasighat few
years ago begs to be cited here, for it had a completely different impact on what it meant for
the tourism industry. As Pasighat based filmmaker Mingkeng Osik, who was the sole artist
coordinator for the film from the State said, the local tourism and hospitality businesses were
much benefited, as the Bollywood team crew members themselves numbered more than 300
- “there was not a single hotel and lodging left free!”.

In addition to this, some villagers were hired for fabrication of bamboo rafts and similar props,
while others got to play bit roles as extras in the film. Mingkeng says he engaged 171 people
on the shoot, though it slipped my mind to ask him how much they were paid. Even if they
did not benefit much monetarily, I am quite certain it made for wonderful stories that still get
told today of how they did ‘suting with Kangna Rawat, Sahid Kapur and Sef Ali Khan’.

As can be expected, we do see that the local tourism economy did benefit immensely from
films like Koyla and Rangoon having been shot here- leaving the future filled with similar
potential.

But, as locals from Tawang district will tell you- Zonga Tser Tso is just not the same as Madhuri
Lake. Just as film tourism is just not the same as promotion of the film industry.
And this is where the premise of this rant is. From what I can gather happened in Mumbai
was the promotion of Arunachal as a film tourism destination; not necessarily of the fledgling
film industry in the State.

The thrust of the film tourism policy, as one is able to gather from media reports and social
media posts, will definitely benefit the tourism industry, will definitely benefit filmmakers in
Mumbai (what with subsidies and incentives being offered). But, in itself, it holds very little
for filmmakers in Arunachal Pradesh. And that is what we need to give a thought to.

When we talk about promotion of films and filmmaking, we ideally need to see it from two
perspectives. One is what the Chief Minister is doing so wonderfully well now- to put
Arunachal on a global platform and make it popular as a film tourism destination. One where
people would come and shoot on location here, tax and other incentives would be extended
so that mainstream filmmakers would popularise Arunachal in the public imagination of
wherever Bollywood films reach. Not just that, even independent filmmaker with smaller
budgets but amazing stories and committed audiences can find a wonderous background to
their films here. All of which will then translate to increased tourist footfalls and revenue
generation. There is no taking away from the significance of this visionary move and the
government deserves the highest appreciation for the initiative.

Yet at the same time, as keen as the government is to promote film production, it has to look
at the needs of the filmmakers that are within Arunachal Pradesh too. Because it is a fact that
filmmakers coming from outside, even from Guwahati or Imphal will not, by far, engage our
home-grown film makers or technicians, at least for the principal crew. Case in point, Rangoon
had a 300+ strong film crew; none from the State.

And this has nothing do with how competent we are or not. The process of filmmaking is such
that a core crew begins and sees the film through the full production process and directors
invariably choose to work with people they are familiar with. And the preparations, where
the crew initially bonds together, would invariably happen much before they land up in our
State.

And then we also need to recognise that we are trained differently here. The film industry
that we have in Arunachal is substantially different from the film industry in Mumbai for
instance, in terms of its functioning, its hierarchy, its experience with changing film
technology and even in its production process. And so it follows that it is very unlikely that a
production house from Mumbai would come and engage indigenous technical talent, creating
jobs and livelihoods of any significant number.

The only talent that they will use is fixers, artist coordinators, local resource people, guides,
and the archetypal travel and hospitality industry. And perhaps the odd member of the extras
cast if the script so demands it, like it happened with Rangoon. But to think that those villagers
are today making a living out of acting after featuring in cameo roles in Rangoon would be to
stretch the imagination a bit much, even for a fantasy medium like film!

Eventually, to effectively promote filmmaking in our State, a two-pronged approach and

strategy is what would work better. Where on the one hand, there is film promotion of the
kind we see in film tourism and destination tourism- which is being done so wonderfully well
now.

The other is the promotion of the indigenous filmmakers and the State’s fledgling film
industry. And to do that, what we need to look at is persistent and sustained initiatives in
training and capacity building, enhancement in technical expertise, film infrastructure,
funding and importantly, film distribution.

If anything needs support on a scale of priority today, it is the small but committed film
industry that has emerged in the State. For, even as considerable growth is being made by a
crop of young women and men filmmakers today, a journey triggered since Taro Chatung
made his Meri Zindagi in the 1987, much remains to be done.

No doubt we have the flagship Film and Television Institute (FTI) that has come up in the
State. But that continues to operate out of temporary rented premises near an up-scale hotel
in Itanagar and with a much restrained capacity for a film institute. It functions under control
of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (Kolkata), which calls the Itanagar FTI its
‘extended campus at Itanagar’ in the official website and even requires aspiring candidates
to send admission forms and other documents to the SRFTI’s Kolkata address and not to
Itanagar!

In addition, we have a virtually non-existent film distribution network, with only a few
theatres having come up recently. And while we have had a spurt of film festivals, we have
also felt the need for more workshops, skill specific training programmes and for these film
festivals to travel to the districts so that people across the State can begin to appreciate what
has now confidently emerged as Arunachal Cinema- with its own unique flavour and variety,
with its own triumphs and failures.

In effect, what the industry needs most today is a definitive film policy. To supplement the
already firmed up film tourism policy, we need a well-thought out framework of how to create
long term jobs in the sector and how to sustain livelihoods for the many who have taken up
film making in the state and who are telling our stories to the world.

For indeed, there is amazing potential within the State itself. In the successive Arunachal Film
Festivals and an ever growing presence on the internet, we are witness to an emerging body
of filmmakers and film technicians who are today doing great work in spite of all the
challenges that we face. In a State that has virtually no government support for their
initiatives, its filmmakers have released between 3-5 feature length films every year for the
past few years, often at the risk of losing investments. And that is an outstanding
achievement, even if I say this as a member of the fraternity itself.

When I shared these ideas with Hali Welly, President of the Film Federation of Arunachal
(FFA), the apex body of the industry which has a team of some of the most motivated film
folk I have met, he said that things are overdue. “The creation of a film development board
has been a long felt necessity of our fraternity”. He also added that in the interim time the
government should provide much-needed relief to filmmakers by subsidising existing
theatres within Arunachal to screen films by indigenous filmmakers which will help not just
the exhibitors but support the directors and producers too.

The need today, in addition to what happened at Mumbai, is for the government to take clear
steps towards setting up of a State Film Board (or Film Council as I prefer, steered by peers of
the community itself). We need for the Council to function as a well-managed professional
body that will fund projects, take venture risks on films and support capacity. When subsidies
are made available to farmers and weavers under various schemes, or to entrepreneurs under
the Deen Dayal Upadhayay Swavalamban Yojana, surely similar mechanisms can be made
available to indigenous filmmakers too.

But most importantly, the government has to begin looking at the indigenous film industry
not just as grant seekers, but as partners in progress and recognize them as tellers of our
stories. Because when we talk of the true purview of good governance- film, art, literature,
music and culture are also sectors of governance- just as infrastructure, education and health
are. Perhaps more so.

This is not to say that the government hasn’t thought about this or talked about this at all. At
consecutive film festivals that I have attended over these last years, there have been
discussions and appeals suggesting these very things. On other occasions, representations
have been submitted by successive federation committees and I myself recall being member
of a core group along with other filmmakers, many years back, on framing a draft document
for the Film Council, which was drawn up and submitted.

To its credit, there has been genuine support and earnest assurances from the State
Government that these would indeed materialise.

Five years down the road, we are still looking at that door to open. With the annual budget
presentation round the corner, you cannot really blame us if we stare at the door again- with
anxiety, anticipation and just a little bit of hope.

Moji Riba

(The writer is a filmmaker and cultural activist

and teaches documentary film at Rajiv Gandhi University.)