Why in news?

• Hon’ble PM Modi has inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in Mumbai.

National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC):

• The state-of-the-art Museum aims to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics, artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.
• The creation of the Museum has been guided by the Museum Advisory Committee headed by Shri Shyam Benegal.
• The Museum is housed in two buildings – the New Museum Building and the 19th century historic palace Gulshan Mahal – in the Films Division campus in Mumbai.

New Museum Building has four Exhibition Halls which encapsulate:

• Gandhi & Cinema: It not only depicts the movies made on the life Mahatma Gandhi but also showcases the deep impact his life had on cinema.
• Children’s Film Studio: it gives visitors, particularly children, an opportunity to explore the science, technology and art behind filmmaking.
• Technology, creativity & Indian cinema: it showcases the creative use of technology by Indian film makers over the years to produce cinematographic impact on the silver screen.
• Cinema across India: it showcases the charismatic kaleidoscopic presence of the vibrant cinematographic culture across India.

Gulshan Mahal:

• It is an ASI Grade-II Heritage Structure which has been restored as part of the NMIC project.
• The displays present here showcase the journey of over a hundred years of Indian cinema.
• It is divided into 9 sections viz. The Origin of Cinema, Cinema comes to India, Indian Silent Film, Advent of Sound, The Studio Era, The impact of World War II, Creative Resonance, New Wave and Beyond and Regional Cinema.

Significance of Indian Cinema:

• The Indian Cinema has a big role in enhancing India’s soft power, its credibility and building the Brand India across the world.
• Through Cinema important social issues such as sanitation, women empowerment, sports etc are now reaching to people. Cinema plays an important role in nation Building and strengthens the feeling of Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat. The film Industry has a huge potential of contributing in the growth of Tourism in the country.
• Government is working to provide facility of ‘Ease of Filming’ by putting in place a Single Window Clearance system, for Film Shooting approvals in different parts of the country.
• It is also working on amending Cinematograph Act 1952 to check the problem of Film Piracy.