In this Industry Spotlight with Nitin Tej Ahuja, CEO of the Producers Guild of India, and Lohita Sujith, Sr. Director of Copyright & Digital Economy at the Motion Picture Association, discussed some of the most significant changes in the last decade and what to anticipate in the future.

The conversation began with the most impactful event of the last decade: COVID. While Mr. Ahuja acknowledged this as massively disruptive, he saw it as a major catalyst for shifting consumption habits in the industry with the growth of streaming. As another byproduct, Indian viewers now have access to global content, making Indian producers more relevant and enabling them to produce at a higher quality, involving more technology and VFX.

As evidenced by India’s box office performance in 2023, the Indian audience still prefers quintessential Indian films. Lohita and Nitin moved on to discuss tax incentives, which Nitin stated are quite good on paper, but in many cases, they are still challenging to execute and navigate.

When talking about policies, Nitin highlighted some of the great aspects of the Cinematograph Amendment Act of 2023, including anti-piracy measures, certifications, and the broadening of categories.

He also emphasized on co-productions between countries, stating that one limitation to India’s ability to co-produce is not having a common culture with another country the way the US might with another Western country for a co-production. However, he mentioned that strategic partnerships and treaties of cooperation between India and places like Spain and New Jersey, USA, can help with co-productions. These treaties also provide on-ground support for filmmakers from both places.

In the end, Nitin reminded us that film and cinema are about telling a story and, in doing so, attracting the largest possible audience.