Madhya Pradesh wins 'Most Film Friendly State' award

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the central government's 'Most Film Friendly State 2017' award for its efforts to ease filming in the state by creating a well-structured website and cinema-friendly infrastructure.

The award, which was earlier conferred on Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, was announced on Thursday by the chairman of the jury, filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, the Press Information Bureau reported.

The award will be presented by president Ram Nath Kovind on 3 May during the presentation of the 65th National film awards here.

"The jury members laud the continuing efforts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat towards creating a film-friendly eco-system in their states and hope that they keep up the good work," said Sippy.

"This year, Madhya Pradesh — where a lot of filmmakers have shot over the years — has won the award due to the ease of filming that the state offers along with excellent on-ground support and filmic infrastructure, an informative website, and incentives for filmmaking," he said.

Madhya Pradesh beat 16 other states, including the national capital territory of Delhi, to bag the honour.

Uttarakhand has been given a certificate of special mention to recognize its efforts to creating a film-friendly environment.

"The jury would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts made by Uttarakhand in this direction, despite it being a relatively new state with a difficult terrain, and hence has given [it] the special mention," Sippy said.

The jury for selecting the most film-friendly state comprised filmmakers like Nagraj Manjule, Raja Krishna Menon, Vivek Agnihotri and Uday Singh, managing director of the Motion Picture Distributors Association.