Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar meets UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Producer-director Madhur Bhandarkar, who was in Lucknow on Tuesday, met UP CM Yogi Adityanath the same morning. Calling his meeting a 'courtesy call', the 'Indu Sarkar' filmmaker says he was highly enthused after meeting the CM and Awanish Awasthi, principal secretary, Information, about making a film in UP.
"It was a very nice meeting with Yogi Adityanathiji. He spoke very nicely with me.We generally spoke about the film industry and he talked about how the film industry can contribute a lot to the state and to the society and how it’s such a strong medium," says the filmmaker, adding, "I’m very optimistic seeing the kind of work he is doing about films in UP. He wants UP to become a hub for film shoots and is all for making provisions for filmmakers willing to shoot here. He has a positive approach towards the film industry. We also discussed the film policy."
Happy with how his meeting went with Awanish Awasthi, who’s also the chairman of Film Bandhu, Bhandarkar said, "Awasthiji was also quite forthcoming. He asked me for suggestions about the UP film policy. So I suggested to have a single-window clearance system. See, we filmmakers are creative people and we don't want to be going from door to door seeking permissions for small things. So, if there's a single window clearance system, it makes things much easier for people like me, and Awasthiji agreed with me. That's something I really liked because everyone was so enthused and willing to take suggestions."
As far as the film policy goes, Bhandarkar says that he has been told that the state government is still working on it.
"The UP government is going to have a business summit in February in which they will also have a panel discussion on film issues. So they are working out the finer details of the film policy. See, UP has seen some big shootings happening here. So I'm sure in the coming years, there will be a lot more film shooting not only of Hindi films but also cinema of different regions of the country will also be shot here in UP."
Ask him if he will also shoot a film in UP and Bhandarkar says, "I am working on a script right now. Lucknow has so much of historical significance and structures which add a lot of character to the city. So I will definitely try to come here. The kind of response I have got from the government has really encouraged me."