IFFI 52, 048: A look at NFDC, its Board and Management

Now that National Film Development Corporation is all set to absorb Directorate of Film Festivals, Films Division, Children’s Film Society of India and National Film Archive of India, it’s time to take a good look at NFDC itself. There is no mention at all of this merger on its website yet, but we do know about the re-structuring, especially at the top. They have a new Managing Director, and he is called Ravinder Bhakar.

Ravinder Bhakar, a 1999 batch officer of Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Board of Films Certification (CBFC) on 30 June 2020. Prior to his appointment as CEO, CBFC, Mr. Bhakar was posted as the Secretary and Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Western Railways.

Bhakar is a Mechanical Engineer from MNIT, Jaipur. In his distinguished career as an Indian Engineering Services officer, Bhakar has rich experience of holding many important posts in Indian Railways. He is also a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the National award, from the Minister of Railways, for outstanding service the General Manager Award, both in Western Railways (WR) & Central Railways (CR), for exemplary service. He has also played a key role in various modernisation drives in WR and CR and was closely associated in developing modern PR techniques, implementation of electronic procurement, formulation of various multi-modal logistics plans & transport management.

Less than six months after taking charge at CFBC, he assumed charge of NFDC, Films Division and CFSI, on 13 December, 2021.

His team at NFDC, where he is designated as the Managing Director, consists of the following personnel. No profile is provided about any one of them.

Board of Directors     

Mr. Jayant Sinha    Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of I & B  Mr. G. Gowrishankar  Director          

Mr. Rajesh Kanna       Director

Management

D. Ramakrishnan  General Manager (P&A), Commissioned Production and Skill Development                        

Vikramjit Roy            Head - Film Facilitation Office (FFO)                        

P. P. Math                  Dy. General Manager - Film Production / CPIO - RTI        E. J. Paul                    Company Secretary / AA - RTI                         

Deepti Chawla            Head - Distribution, Syndication & Marketing               

Rohini Gauthaman      Head - Regional Office, Chennai                        

Alok Kapur                Head - Production                       

Kanti Jogadia             Manager - F & A                    

Leena Khobragade Manager - Film Festival Programming & screen Writers Lab / FilmBazaar                       

Sonal Mathur Head - Skill Development, International Promotions & Special Projects                    

Varun Batra               Head - Digital & Social Media Division

On its website, NFDC provides this profile:

Over the years NFDC has worked with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers of India including Satyajit Ray, Mira Nair, Aparna Sen, Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Mrinal Sen, Richard Attenborough, Adoor Gopalkrishnan and Ketan Mehta.

NFDC is breaking new grounds by co-producing projects involving public-private partnerships.

NFDC facilitates line production services of shooting in India and animation services of overseas clients.

NFDC organises Film Bazaar India- a co-production and distribution market for the South Asian region alongside the International Film Festival of India, Goa.

Mission

NFDC aims at fostering excellence in cinema and promoting the diversity of its culture by supporting and encouraging films made in various Indian languages.

Vision

To create domestic and global appreciation and celebration of the independent Indian cinema.

Objectives

- To develop talent and to facilitate the growth of Indian cinema in all languages through productions and co-productions, script development and need-based workshops.

- To promote Indian culture through cinema in India and overseas.

- To build a lean and flexible organisation responsive to the needs of the Indian film industry.

To get a better idea of its functioning, you read its Annual Report for the year April 2020-March 2021, on

https://nfdcindia.com/pdf/AnnualReturnForm_MGT-9.pdf