MP minister mandates district admin nod for shooting films

District admins in MP will approve scripts of movies, web series, serials and short films before allowing filming in their jurisdictions, the state’s home minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday.

District administrators in Madhya Pradesh will approve scripts of movies, web series, serials and short films before allowing filming in their jurisdictions, the state’s home minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday.

MP will soon release a policy on filming, and issue detailed guidelines on its enforcement, Mishra said. (HT file)

“Now, the production house will have to take prior permission of district collector of the respective location before shooting begins,” Mishra told reporters.

The state will soon release a policy on filming, and issue detailed guidelines on its enforcement, Mishra said.

The policy has been framed by the state’s tourism department and the home department has given its go-ahead, a home department official said.

“The district collectors will check four main points that the no obscene scenes will be filmed at any religious and heritage places, the storyline will not hurt the religious sentiments of any person, it will not insult the tradition, culture and customs of people, and name of the movie or web-series should not be controversial,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The permission will be granted within a month, following which the production house can start filming. The administration will provide security, the official added.

The state came up with this policy after Bajrang Dal activists recently threw ink on filmmaker Prakash Jha and vandalised a set in Bhopal to protest against a web series being titled Ashram.