Times of India: National: Tuesday,
May 24, 2016.
Uttar Pradesh
administration has been actively selling the state as film-friendly under its
Film Policy. And over the last two years, it has managed to draw over 100
filmmakers to shoot in the state. Apart from giving sops and freebies to
filmmakers, the government has also exempted a number of films from
entertainment tax. In response to an RTI two months ago, the state government
revealed that it had granted tax-free status to 29 films in the last four
years. In 2016, the number stands at eight in five months, with 'Sarbjit' being
the latest one to join the list.
But merely
declaring a film tax-free isn't enough anymore; being one of the first to do so
is what matters now, it seems. The last two tax-free films in UP - 'Nil Battey
Sannata' and 'Sarbjit' - were both accorded this status prior to their release,
a deviation from the earlier norm, when films were considered for tax exemption
after their release. So has the UP administration adopted a different approach
to declaring films tax-free? Officials from the entertainment tax department
attribute it to the CM Akhilesh Yadav's bid to promote the state as
film-friendly in even newer ways.
Real-life
stories and biopics preferred
The first
film to be granted exemption from entertainment tax in UP before its release
was Priyanka Chopra's 'Mary Kom', which was declared tax-free almost a week
before its release date of September 5, 2014. Ayushman Khurana-starrer
'Hawaizaada' followed suit in January 2015. But for almost a year, these films
were the exceptions. In the same period, films like 'PK' and 'Drishyam' waited
12 days after their release to get a tax exemption, and other films like
'Mardaani', 'Masaan' and 'Tevar' were all given the exemption a week after
their release. In August 2015, the trend changed visibly, as two films were
declared tax-free, both a few days before their release. While 'Jaanisaar'
earned the status 17 days prior to its release, 'Manjhi - The Mountain Man' became
tax-free a week before its release. The trend has continued this year with
'Chalk n Duster', 'Nil Battey Sannata' and now 'Sarbjit'. The common thread
between these films has been that most of them have been based on real-life
figures or incidents. 'Mary Kom', 'Manjhi' and 'Sarbjit' are all biopics, while
'Hawaizaada' and 'Chalk n Duster' were inspired by real-life incidents.
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