On  the  invitation  of  the   Russia consulate  general,  producer, director  Yash  Chopra  was  honored  to receive  the  president ,  on  behalf  of  the  Film  and  TV  Producers Guild of India.

The  reception  was  hosted  to  further  strengthen  the  ties  of  the  two  countries with special emphasis on promoting cultural exchanges between Russia and India  and  for  the  president  to  get  an  opportunity  to  directly  meet  with  the  members  of  our  film  industry.

Chopra said,  “We  are  honored  to  have  the  president  of  Russia, H.E. Medvedev, who took time off during his very short visit to India, to come visit  us.  Speaking  on  behalf  of  all  of  us  present  here  and  particularly  the  film  fraternity,  I  am  confident  that  this  visit  will  most  certainly  help  us  to  build  on  our  already  strong  cultural and emotional relationship that has existed over many years. With this as our heritage, we should be looking at doing things collectively going forward.”  

President  Dmitry  Medvedev  said that  his  association  and  love  for  Indian  films  started  way  back  in  1970  with  Raj  Kapoor’s Shree 420,  a  popular  and  iconic  film  in  Russia.  He  also  said  that  cinemas  are  a  common language  and  that  he  looked  forward  to  receiving  good  proposals  from  the  Indian  Film Industry.

Film  &  TV  Producers  Guild  of India president Ramesh  Sippy expressed a desire to take this relationship forward while still retaining our cultures. He also hoped for a better understanding while entering into co- productions.

Film  &  TV  Producers  Guild  of  India vice  president Mukesh  Bhatt requested  the Russian president to help create a single window platform to facilitate cooperation between the two countries to benefit both in production and distribution of films.

Amit  Khanna  also  requested  that  procedures  for  doing  business  with  Russia  be streamlined and simplified.

Randhir  Kapoor,  who  spoke  about  the  popularity  of  his  father’s  films  in  Russia, mentioned  that  we  too  should  look  at  showcasing  Russian  films  here  which  would  help  the love

During his visit to the YRF Studio, Chopra also invited the president to visit the sets where he met Shah Rukh  Khan  and    Kareena  Kapoor . Khan said that  there  is  a  great  diversity  of  Russian  and  Indian  culture  which  can  be  mutually  drawn upon. He suggested that we should go there to learn the ballet and Russia should come here to learn the bhangra!

Also present at the function were the Russian Federation to India ambassador Alexander m> Kadakin and luminaries from the film industry including, Rakesh Roshan, Manmohan Shetty, Puneet Goenka, Anil Arjun and Nitin Desai amongst others.