The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has relieved the Managing Director of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), which organised the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, of his duties.
Ravinder Bhakar remains the executive director of the Central Board of Film Certification.
The interim charge of NFDC has been transferred to Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Films), per a Ministry decision dated 11 January. Kumar will hold the position for six months or until a permanent MD is chosen. The IRTS officer from the class of 2000 is currently deputed to the I&B Ministry for five years.
Israeli director and jury member Nadav Lapid had openly criticised the selection of The Kashmir Files at the most recent IFFI in November 2022. On the final day of the event in Goa, Lapid described the film as “propaganda and disgusting” and expressed “shock and dismay” at its inclusion in the competition segment.
Before a number of dignitaries, including Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, Lapid presented his remarks.
Officer of the Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) from the 1999 batch, Bhakar was assigned the additional responsibility of NFDC in December 2021, in addition to his responsibilities as director-general of Films Division and chief executive officer of the Children’s Film Society of India. All film-related departments of the Ministry’s Mumbai-based Ministry were now under his charge. Bhakar is a mechanical engineer at Jaipur’s MNIT.
As part of the government’s effort to integrate its multiple film entities, the Films Division, National Film Archive of India, and Directorate of Film Festivals were combined into NFDC late last month. According to a source, now that a Ministry Joint Secretary is in charge of NFDC, the government intends to simplify better and oversee its operations.
