Spanish President Seeks Close Ties With Indian Film Industry Meets Producers Guild of India Delegation

MUMBAI: A delegation of the Producers Guild of India, India’s premier association of film, television and digital content producers, met with the President of Spain, His Excellency Mr Pedro Sanchez, during his visit to Mumbai on Wednesday, October 29, 2024

The Spanish President was accompanied by several senior dignitaries including, First Lady Ms  Begona Gomez,  Minister for Industry and Tourism Mr Jordi Hereu Boher and the Minister for Transportation and Sustainable Mobility Mr Óscar Puente. The Indian Ambassador to Spain, Mr Dinesh Patnaik also attended the meeting.  

The Producers Guild of India (PGI) delegation was led by Mr Shibasish Sarkar, President of PGI and Group CEO Reliance Entertainment; Mr Aashish Singh of Red Chillies Entertainment; Mr Ankur Garg of Luv Films; Mr Shiv Chanana of T Series; and Mr Nitin Tej Ahuja, CEO of PGI; besides Mr Akshaye Widhani of Yashraj Films who hosted the meeting at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed ways in which there can be greater collaboration between the filmmaking fraternities of both countries. President Sanchez expressed his government’s keen interest in strengthening ties with the Indian film industry, as evidenced by him taking time out to meet the PGI delegation in a very short 2-day official trip to India, the first by a Spanish President in 18 years.  

In his remarks to the President Sanchez, Guild President Shibasish Sarkar shared some perspectives on the unique scale and multi-lingual nature of the Indian film industry, besides sharing factors that influence Indian producers to choose a certain country when they shoot outside of India.

President Sanchez expressed satisfaction at the free-flowing and constructive dialogue that took place at the meeting and said that it was only the start of a process of much closer collaborations between the two filmmaking communities.