India to be 3rd largest media-entertainment market in 5 years: Thakur

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said India will become the third largest media and entertainment market in the world in the next five years. Speaking at the inauguration of the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Thakur said a first the event will see is the recognition of the OTT segment."India, on one hand, has become fifth largest economy of the world. It is also the fifth largest in the world in terms of the media and entertainment industry. In the next five years, India is going to be third largest economy in the world as well as the third largest media and entertainment market," he said.“The OTT (segment) is currently growing at a rate of 28 per cent. That is why we decided to institute this award,” Thakur added.In a glorious tribute to the legendary Bollywood actress, Madhuri Dixit, was honoured with 'Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema' Award by Anurag Singh Thakur 

Elated and Honoured to present the award of
Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema to the iconic and unmatched Madhuri Dixit ji.

Her performances have enamoured generations of Cinephiles and she continues to enthral cinema lovers with the magnificence of her… pic.twitter.com/v8OvM30zlp

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) November 20, 2023

Another first in this year’s edition was the augmenting of the scope of ‘Film Bazaar’ (an event held on the sidelines of the festival) by introducing a well-curated VFX and tech pavilion to showcase innovation from the cinema world, a documentary section support non-fiction story telling, he added.“For the time, we also present Cine Mela, an extravagant celebration of our diversity and culture. The IFFI has also introduced a section on restored classic feature films,” he said.