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10 sculptures retrieved from Australia and USA handed over to the Government of Tamilnadu

Delhi (India), June 04: “History belongs to its Geography. As a continuous living civilization, India’s heritage belongs to the temples and places it was taken from. Bringing Our Gods Home is one such initiative that is rooted in preserving, promoting and propagating our heritage”: G Kishan Reddy


Swati Bhat

Ten antiquities (sculptures) retrieved from Australia and USA were handed -over to the Government of Tamil Nadu today in New Delhi.Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) attended the handing-over ceremony of 10 sculptures to the Government of Tamil Nadu at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) ,New Delhi . Minister of State for Culture, Smt Meenakshi Lekhi ; Minister of State for Culture, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Shri L Murugan along with officials from the Ministry of Culture, Archeological Survey of India, Ministry of External Affairs and Tamil Nadu Government were also present.

While addressing at the event, the Union Minister said, “Over the last 8 years, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken several steps to preserve our ancient civilisational ethos, Protect our cultural and spiritual heritage and Propagate Indian Knowledge systems and traditions across the world. Bringing Our Gods Home is one such initiative that is rooted in preserving, promoting and propagating our heritage”. He added, “ The Prime Minister’s personal relationships and warm ties with world leaders from these countries have led to the respective countries swiftly identifying the stolen antiquities and sustained cooperation till their return. Therefore all the credit goes to our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. He has not only made efforts to help retrieve these antiquities but also personally carried them back with him during his official tours abroad”.

The collection of antiquities handed over to the Tamil Nadu government included figurines named Dwarapala, Nataraja, Kankalamurti Kadayam, Nadikeswara Kadayam, Four-Armed Vishnu, Sri Devi, Siva & Parvati, Standing Child Sambandar, and Child Sambandar. The Union Minister Shri, G Kishan Reddy lauded the efforts of the Central Government and highlighted the increase in the number of idols which have been repatriated since 2014. He said, “During the visit of our Hon'ble Prime Minister to the USA, 157 antiquities were returned to India which is being the largest single collection India got back so far. You would be aware that over the last 8 years the Government has brought back 228 heritage objects. Only 13 antiquities were brought back to India between Independence and 2013. Friends, the figures speak for themselves and reflect the importance this Government attaches to our heritage. With the sustained effort of the Government of India, and 228 antiquities being brought back since 2014, the total number has now become 241”.

The Union Minister added, “India is celebrating her 75th year of independence through Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. As India enters 25 years of Amrit Kaal, this is an opportunity to take the lead as a global protector of indigenous culture, traditions and heritage. This event and process of repatriating our stolen heritage will allow an open and honest conversation on decolonization”.


A booklet on the ten antiquities was also released on the occasion.



1 min read

We can't keep one language at forefront: Ayushmann Khurrana on Hindi language row

New Delhi [India], May 25: Actor Ayushmann Khurrana has urged people to acknowledge all languages of India with the utmost respect.


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In an interaction with ANI, the 'Article 15' star weighed in on the ongoing Hindi as a national language debate. "We really can't keep one language at the forefront... India is not that country (to have one language at the forefront). We have multiple languages, multiple religions, regions, communities, and ethnicities..Each language is equally important.

We should give equal importance to each language of our nation," Ayushmann said. According to him, "hearts need to be one" despite different languages. "Bhashaye chahe anek hai par dil ek hone chayiye," Ayushmann emphasised.

Interestingly, his upcoming socio-political drama 'Anek' also highlights the need of stopping people to classify others on the basis of language -- especially in a nation wherein dialect and culture change every few kilometers. Last month, the makers unveiled the film's trailer that showed Ayushmann conversing with a man who belongs to Telangana. In the clip, Ayushmann asked the man why he thinks of him as North Indian.

When the man said that it is probably because his Hindi is clean, Ayushmann replied, "So Hindi decides who is from the North and the South?" When the man responded no, Ayushmann said, "So, it's not about Hindi, either!" 'Anek', which will be out on May 27, is helmed by Anubhav Sinha. It features Ayushmann as an undercover cop who is on a mission to restore peace in the Northeastern region of India. Model Andrea Kevichusa, who hails from Nagaland, is making her acting debut with the film.


4 min read

Will take all measures to speed up Co- Production Collaborations from the world: Anurag Thakur

Mumbai [India], May 19: Government policies to help media and entertainment ecosystem to generate USD 53 billion annually by 2025


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“है प्रीत जहां की रीत सदा, मैं गीत वहां के गाता हूं, भारत का रहने वाला हूं, भारत की बात सुनाता हूं “, carrying the tales of Bharat, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur today addressed the India Forum at the famous Palais des Festivals in Cannes. Representing a 6000 year old culture and 1.3 billion people the Minister delivered his keynote address in front of audience comprising foreign and Indian filmmakers, journalists and delegates.

The session moderated by Ms Vani Tripathi had on the panel Shri Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, Shri Prasoon Joshi, Writer, Poet, and Chairman, Central Board of Film Certification, Shri R Madhavan, Indian actor, writer, director, and producer, Shri Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker, actor, television presenter and entrepreneur and Chairman, Film and Television Institute of India, Mr. Scott Roxborough, Editor, Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Philip Avril, Producer.

This year marks the 75th year celebration of both Cannes Film Festival and of establishment of India-France diplomatic relations. Speaking on the importance of Cannes, the Minister said that over the years, ‘Festival de Cannes’ has played a significant role in strengthening Indo-French relations. The Minister noted the historic highs of Indian cinema and said that Indian content has been ruling the hearts and minds of the global audience and the stepping stone was laid by bestowing the Palme d’Or to the prolific Indian filmmaker Chetan Anand’s film Neecha Nagar in 1946 and a decade later in 1956, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali won the Palme d’Or. Today the recognition of our cinematic excellence the world over is set to manifest the country into the ‘content hub of the world’, the Minister added.

Speaking on India’s current presence in Cannes the Minister said “India intends to give you - the global audience, a flavour of the country’s cinematic excellence, technological prowess, rich culture and illustrious heritage of storytelling”. “India’s red carpet presence captured the diversity of our cinematic excellence not only in terms of representation of actors and film makers from various languages and regions, but also OTT platforms, with a strong presence of music composers and a folk artist who have enthralled audiences both young and old”, the Minister further added.

The Minister informed the audience about the presence of Indian startups in Cannes and said the startups from media and entertainment sector will showcase their technological prowess and pitch to the best from the world of AVGC along with a strong delegation of animation professionals from the sector.

The Minister informed the audience of the various measures by both Union and State governments and said while Center has envisioned major initiatives over the last 8 years to boost co-productions, film shoots and film facilitations in India, States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have formulated their own film facilitation policies and provided co-production opportunities. He stated that these efforts are aimed at boosting India’s media and entertainment ecosystem, which is expected to generate USD 53 billion annually by 2025.

In one such measure, “Government of India officially designated audiovisual services as one of 12 'champion service sectors’ and recently set up an AVGC task force comprising of industry leaders to prepare a policy roadmap for India to take a quantum leap in this sector and position us as the preferred ‘post production hub of the world’ “.

Shri Anurag Thakur painted a bright future for M&E sector in India saying that on one hand artificial intelligence, virtual reality, immersive technologies such as the Metaverse, present immense possibilities to India’s IT skilled workforce, the OTT market in India is predicted to grow at 21% annually to nearly 2 Billion Dollars by 2024 on the other.

The Minister promised that the Government will take all necessary measures to transform India into a Global Content Sub Continent and use the skills of our youth to make India the preferred Post Production Hub for AVGC sector and to that end Government will speed up co-production collaborations from around the world and also offer the best locations in India for Film Shoots. These steps, Shri Thakur envisioned, will in the next 5 years, catapult Bharat into the league of leading quality content producing nations across the globe.

Shri Thakur concluded his statement by extending a warm invitation to foreign film makers to shoot in India, bask in its hospitality and relish its breathtaking landscape.

Shri Shekhar Kapur spoke about the effect of access to cheap broadband and mobile devices having a disruptive effect on movie industry and said that India is about to become the world’s biggest ‘influencer economy’ and that cinema will soon be redefined by the young film makers.


India is a pool of restless dreams, dreams that are restless to make it big, of looking forward, added Shri Prasoon Joshi to the comment of Shri Shekhar Kapur.

Mr. Scott Roxborough, the style of Indian storytelling needs a lot more to become appealing to world market.

Shri Apurva Chandra contested the notion by Mr. Scott Roxborough by citing movies like Lunchbox, Mr and Mrs Iyer and Rocketry that are typically Indian in their story but have resonated with audience across the world. He further reiterated the incentives announced by the Government of India yesterday for film makers from across the world.

Shri R. Madhavan commented on how India has so much to tell the world in the field of science and technology and the cinema world must explore this idea. From Aryabhatta to Sundar Pichai India has extraordinary stories which are aspirations of youngsters around the world.



The Speech of I & B Minister Shri Anurag Thakur from the Cannes Campus | PIB | AFP


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