Film hub sets sights on Bollywood

Guwahati, Feb 26 : Dispur today promised to turn the Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute into a centre to export talent from the region to the Indian film industry. 
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, while laying the foundation stone of the permanent campus of the institute at Sila in Changsari on the outskirts of the city, said it had already been able to produce talents like Amrit Pritam, who is associated with the making of Slumdog Millionaire.
“I have been hearing a lot about the JCFTI. Despite being faced with various problems, the institute has been able to produce talents who are now doing well in Bollywood. With the setting up of the permanent campus of the JCFTI on the lines of the Film and Television Institute, Pune, it will be able to produce many more such talents. My government will leave no stone unturned to make this endeavour successful,” Gogoi said.
Pritam worked for the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire as an associate recordist for its Hindi-version, Slumdog Crorepati. He also designed the sound of Amir Khan’s blockbuster Ghajini
Another alumni of JCFTI, Debojit Sangmai, worked in hits like Black, Khakee, Lagaan and Rang De Basanti as sound recordist.
“I am fascinated by the picturesque site where the permanent campus of the JCFTI will be set up. There cannot be a better place like this for students to concentrate on creativity, which is most essential for filmmaking,” Gogoi said.

Dispur will receive Rs 13.46 crore from the DoNER ministry to develop the film institute on the lines of the Film and Television Institute, Pune. It has already received Rs 4.24 crore in the first phase.
Cultural affairs minister Bharat Chandra Narah said the number of seats at the JCFTI would be enhanced by at least by 40 per cent with the completion of its permanent campus. The institute now offers 33 seats.
He said the new campus would have new departments, including direction. The institute will introduce courses, including short-term, on animation, costume designing, digital recording, still photography and broadcasting engineering for FM radio with the aim of creating a huge pool of talent which could be absorbed in film and entertainment industry, he added.
The secretary of cultural affairs department and JCFTI director, Swapnanil Barua, said the institute’s permanent campus would be fully functional by 2011. He said the government had allotted a separate budget for the institute on the lines of other top-bracket institutions, which would enable the institute to grow.

Dolly Bora, the chairperson of Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society, said a survey undertaken by various organisations had found that the Indian film industry would do business of Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years. “It is high time for states like Assam to send talents to the film and entertainment industry, The JCFTI will take the lead in this endeavour,” she added.
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