Nollywood, Bollywood collaboration yielding fruits – Minister

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said
the collaboration between Nigeria and India in the creative industry
has begun to yield fruit, with the impending launch of the all
Nigerian-Indian cast movie, entitled “Post Card from India”.

The Minister made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday when he received
the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Shri Balasubra Maniam, on
a courtesy visit.

He said the Ministry is in the forefront of bringing together
Bollywood producers, actors and promoters to interact and exchange
ideas with their Nigerian counterparts in Nollywood, as India and
Nigeria are the two power houses in the creative industry.

“I am glad that the recent collaboration between Nigeria and India in
the area of culture, industry, film and music has yielded fruits.  I
am glad that the recent film, ‘Post Card from India,’ which was
actually shot in India, will be coming out in July this year,” he
said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the Nigerian Government has offered land to
Indian investors in Abuja and Lagos to build a comprehensive film city
in either of the two cities in order to further deepen the economy of
the creative industry.

He also said that a team of Indian investors last August inspected the
Millenium Tower Complex, which would be an iconic cultural centre in
Abuja when completed.

The Minister pledged the readiness of the ministry to sign some of the
outstanding Memoranda of Understanding with India to strengthen and
deepen the relationship between the two countries in the creative
sector.

He stressed the need for the governments of India and Nigeria to open
windows of opportunities for the private sector of both countries to
forge new ties beyond government-to-government bilateral relations.

“I think the success of the India-Nigeria relationship is not just
government-to-government.  I think government-to-business and
business-to-business have been the major drivers of this relationship
and I want at this point to commend the effort of Mr. Jitendra
Sachdeva of the Skipper Group, who led a delegation of investors to
Nigeria in August last year.

“I think that’s a model we should emulate and encourage because the
business sector and business movers are even faster to open up and cut
down barriers more than the government at times,” he said.

In his remarks, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr.
Balasubra, who traced the bilateral ties between Nigeria and India
back to 1958, said the new film, “Post Card from India,” with Nigerian
and Indian cast, would showcase the composite cultures between the two
countries.

He said the outstanding MoUs on Joint Film Production and Cultural
Exchange Programme would further solidify the cultural ties between
Nigeria and India.

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