Contribution ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ has made towards Sinhala Cinema:

Star of the era

Channa Bandara Wijekoon

When Gamini Fonseka was the Deputy Speaker in Parliament, he had been on the look for a charismatic person to play the role of an Army Officer in his latest film. In the process, he carefully noticed the charismatic M.P. in the opposition who was a revolutionary figure in the then parliament; who eventually was selected for the role. He is none other than President Mahinda Rajapaksa. While Gamini met with an eye to an eye with the terrorist leader in his film, President Rajapaksa confronted the enemy in real life. The rest is history. Now he is creating history with his contributions towards the local cinema.

When Mahinda Rajapaksa became President, the local film industry was in turmoil. Many blunders the leaders of yesteryear have done had contributed towards the downfall.

With the introduction of the Open Economy System in 1977, the local film industry was confronted with many problems. To add insult to injury, colour TV was introduced prematurely by the then government solely for entertaining purposes, which further confined the film-going families to their homes. Film industry was not a lucrative area for investors / producers any more. Thus, many veteran artistes / technicians in the field flew to other countries looking for greener pastures. Sinhala Cinema was left with a great void. Emergence of LTTE terrorism and communal riots saw closure or destruction of many Cinema Halls in North and East, let alone Cinemas owned by Tamil Businessman in Colombo, further shrinking the market.

In the light of this, many leaders kept a blind eye to the crises in the Sinhala film industry.

When he took office, though it was a tall order President Rajapaksa took up the challenge to rejuvenate the film industry and other areas related to aesthetics and entertainment as a whole. “Mahinda Chinthanaya” accorded special priority to enrich art and culture. Says the veteran film producer Chitra Balasuriya, “Mahinda Rajapaksa loves to take up challenges and he delivers goods. He crushed terrorism. Likewise, he will uplift the film industry too. We must strengthen his hands.”

Tax / duty concessions for the National Film Industry

As per the Mahinda Chinthanaya, many lucrative tax / duty concessions have been granted for the national film industry in the budget proposals of 2007 and 2008. Tax concessions are granted to produce films, construct cinema halls with high tech facilities, renovation purposes and duty concessions for various essential equipment required to be imported for the production of films and tele-dramas.

Says Deputy General Manager of National Film Corporation (NFC) Nadeeka Gunasekara; “Tax and Duty concessions granted by Mahinda Chinthanaya will be a great relief to everyone in the local film industry. It is a real motivation for personnel in the film industry towards achieving the past glory again.”

Details are as follows - Budget proposals 2007

TAX HOLIDAY

· 10 years tax holiday for newly constructed cinema theatres with modern equipment and approved by the National Film Corporation.

· 5 years tax holiday for existing cinemas upgraded with above facilities.

(Effective from the date of commencement of operation)

QUALIFYING PAYMENTS

· Deduction in respect of cost of production of a film is increased from Rs. 10 million to Rs. 25 million.

VALUE ADDED TAX EXEMPTIONS

Film Industry

· Production, Distribution & Exhibition of any film.

· Supply of laboratory facilities for production of a film.

· Importation of any film produced in Sri Lanka and taken abroad for further processing or printing with the approval of the National Film Corporation.

LOCAL FILM INDUSTRY

· The importation with the approval of the National Film Corporation of the following items will be reduced to 5%.

QUALIFYING PAYMENTS

· Cost of construction of a high tech modern theatres maximum of up to Rs. 25 million.

· Cost of films produced with the approval of the National Film Corporation increased from 25 million to Rs. 35 million.

REDUCTION OF VAT RATES FROM 15% TO 5%

· The under mentioned equipment imported on or after 01.01.2008 with the approval of the National Film Corporation.

Ranmihitenna (Serendib Studio) Tele-Cinema Village

Stability was ensured to local film industry and art / culture as a whole by imposing tax on imported Films / Tele-dramas and advertisements. This state revenue taxes are invested in Ranmihitenna Tele-Cinema Village (Serendib Studio) which is the first ever studio / training centre in the Sri Lankan history to provide State-of-the-art facilities under one roof for all in the Tele-Cine World. The total project is estimated to cost Rs.1500 million. Phase 1 of the project which costs 500 million is nearing completion. Rs.550 million has already been collected by way of taxes. For many years, local film artistes yearned for a training institute. Ranmihitenna will fulfill their dream. Enticing foreign film makers to do their creations in Serendib Studio is a long term plan, which will bring foreign currency and expertise to our country. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2011.”Producers have already reserved Serendib Studio to shoot 3 films and 2 tele-dramas.” says Ravindra Randeniya.

Ban of Obscene films

In the guise of adult movies, third grade obscene films similar to blue films were imported by a handful of people and shown in Cinemas. As a result of a serious discussion the President had with a cross section of senior artistes and personnel of Cultural Ministry, a ban was imposed on such films. Interested parties plotted against this decision and tried to misinterpret the President’s decision but failed. It was not the good adult movies that were banned, but the obscene ones which caused a severe damage to the spiritual sentiments of our culture.

These contributions President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made towards the local tele / film industry in a very little period would reap benefits in time to come.

In a recent press conference at Ranmihitenna, actor Ravindra Randeniya disclosed, the next mega project would be an “Archive” to preserve films for the future generation.

(Courtesy: Nadeeka Gunasekara and National Film Corporation)