India and Indonesia decide to work in unison in the field of films, music and dance

Just a week after the Indian embassy in Cairo announced the return of Bollywood movies to Egypt after a gap of 25 years, India and Indonesia have decided to strengthen relationships via Hindi films, music and dance. After the understanding, both countries will look at the possibilities of co-production, shooting in both countries and bringing together common screenplays and scripts to enter the vast entertainment markets in India and Indonesia. It may be noted that in a weeklong celebrations to mark the centenary of the Indian cinema, the India embassy and Directorate of Film Festivals in Jakarta organised a special symposium titled ‘Our Films, Their Films’. Also to attract young Indonesians to Hindi cinema, the embassy organised a cultural programme in which students danced to a medley of popular Hindi songs belonging to various periods. There was also an exhibition of 50 Hindi film posters. Indian ambassador Gurjit Singh said that Bollywood had provided a useful idiom for cultural engagement between both countries. He further went to underline the fact that India and Indonesia, that had strong historic and civilisational connections, cultural appreciation of each other, were well placed to start a new area of co-operation. Singh also invited Indonesian filmmakers to participate in the annually held International Film Festival of India and asked Indonesia to avail itself of the hospitality of the Directorate of Film Festivals to show Indonesian films to Indian audiences. The function was attended by Indonesian filmmakers Harry Dagoe and Ve Handojo, script writer Putut Widjanarko, producer Rahayu Saraswati, actor Sha Ine Febriyanti and Kahaani director Sujoy Ghosh.