John Bailey, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Os cars), was in Bombay last week and earlier this week and responded positively to the Maharashtra government’s keenness to set up a regional office of the AMPAS in Bombay. In a tweet on 25th May, Maha rashtra’s cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde said, “India’s entertainment capital has opened its doors, and government of Maharashtra has proposed to establish Oscars office in Mumbai, representing Asian Film Industry!”
Speaking at a press meet about the tweet, Bailey said, “We have an office in London, and there is one in New York. Those are the only two standing offices. India is the largest filmmaking country in the world. The country makes upto 1,800 movies a year, which is four times the number we make in the US. There is logic to it; it’s an excellent idea.” He further add ed that an office in Bombay would mean a platform for artistes to conduct exhibitions, programmes, screen movies, and build up a community that appreciates the art of cinema. Meanwhile, the Maharash tra government has proposed an increa se in the Indian representation on the Os cars jury. As a beginning, Vinod Tawde has already constituted a committee to take things forward with the Academy. The committee includes Bhushan Gajrani (principal sec retary for cultural affairs), Vinod Tawde, and Ujwal Nirgudkar (technical advisor for the National Film Heritage Mission).