Prasar Bharati DG assures special dispensation for Aruchal, Sikkim

From Our Correspondent

Itagar, Jan 7: A month after Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Cooperation of India) announced to launch DD Arun Prabha, Doordarshan’s second channel for the north-east, the first ever interactive meeting in this regard was held at the Doordarshan Kendra here on Friday.

The meeting which had its prime focus on evolving the prospects of film making in the state of Aruchal also dealt in detail on the programme proposals for DD-Arun Prabha which are open for the reputed producers/production houses of the state for the upcoming 24x7 satellite channel. During the meeting, the Prasar Bharati team was headed by DG Supriya Sahu who is a senior IAS officer; the film fraternity of the state was led by Film Federation of Aruchal (FFA) president Chopa Cheda.  Speaking on the occasion, Sahu called upon the film producers and directors to come up with innovative proposals for programmes, serials, tele-films, documentaries etc and assured that the entire proposal put forward, especially by the filmmakers from Aruchal Pradesh and Sikkim would be given utmost priority.

“Though the channel will cover entire North East, however, special focus and precedence will be given to shows/programmes from Aruchal and Sikkim,” assured Sahu. She however, clarified that proposals put forward would be properly scrutinized and transparency would be maintained in order to make sure that only the best programmes go through. Appealing the filmmakers to come up with interesting programmes and one’s which are out of the box, the DG added, “We are looking for innovative shows and documentaries. Give programmes that are of good quality and that can help you make your me in the world.” “The camera work should be splendid while the anchor should be dymic,” she added.  Further stating that no experience criteria is required to submit proposals while the same was different a few years ago, Sahu also appealed to utilize the funds provided by the government properly if one’s proposal is selected. Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the FFA, Cheda appealed the DG also to accept proposals for showcasing feature films in the channel, to which the latter assured to look into.

Cheda was of the opinion that if Doordarshan gives the filmmakers of the state an opportunity to showcase their films then it would boost their morale in a huge way. “Though Aruchal has ample amount of talent in terms of filmmaking but we do not have the platform to showcase them and accordingly we incur huge losses. This directly demoralize us to make more films,” Cheda who himself is a film producer and president of Aruchal Press Club added. Where documentary maker Sanju Dodum put forwards various suggestions which according to him needed small considerations such as fees for the proposal ie Rs 25,000/- and is non refundable, senior actor cum director of state Hage D Appa also shared his views in terms of proposal ratio which is 50:50.

Doordarshan’s Engineer-in-chief C B S Manrya, ADGs Dr Shailendra Kumar, Alok Agarwal, J K Chandiva and ADG (NE) M S Ansari also spoke on the occasion. Among others present were Tsengpa Norbu (film director cum producer), Shambo Flago (director), Alison Welly (producer), and the technical staff of DD Arun Prabha.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prasar Bharati is making special efforts in North East Region (NER) to promote and nurture talent, provide a platform to deserving producers/artists from NER as well as from outside to encourage production of better programmes for Doordarshan viewers. DD-Arunprabha will be a 24x7 satellite Channel of Doordarshan, origiting from DDK, Itagar.

Programmes on the channel would show richness, variety and diversity of local culture. The channel would seamlessly integrate NER with the entire country. The channel’s USP would be to attract young people of NER with contemporary entertainment shows embedded with informative content.

The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has allocated a sum of Rs 7 crore to the broadcaster for the launch of DD Arun Prabha which would be Doordarshan’s second channel for the region. Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan and All India Radio in the country.