The group, which comprises of Karan Johar, Akshay Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Prasoon Joshi received criticisms on social media for having an all-male delegation.
The team pitched for lower and uniform rates of GST for the entertainment industry in India, apart from calling for the development of Mumbai as the global entertainment capital, through various initiatives and proactive approaches.
The Prime Minister said that the Indian entertainment industry enjoys immense popularity across the world. It is one of the key elements of India’s rising soft power status, globally, he added. He assured the delegation that the Union Government is supportive of the media and entertainment industry; and would consider the suggestions positively.
Had an extensive and fruitful interaction with a delegation from the film and entertainment industry.
The delegation spoke about the strides being made by the film and entertainment industry, and gave valuable inputs relating to GST for their sector. https://t.co/ulQMtxTJQj pic.twitter.com/n4Dn38EJLr
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2018
Prime Minister Modi shared a picture of the meeting on his Twitter handle and was instantly criticized for not having a single woman in the meeting.
The Prime Minister also posted a caption with the photograph which said that he had an interaction that was fruitful and extensive. Akshay Kumar who was part of the group posted a message thanking the PM for the meeting.
Heartfelt thank you to the honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for taking out time to hear us at length, discuss issues pertaining to our industry and assuring positive consideration of suggestions. pic.twitter.com/ShGfr0Jlvu
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) December 18, 2018
Women filmmakers, writers and netizens were quick to point out that there were no women in the discussion.
“Would be great to have female representation in these delegations. It is 2018,” tweeted Lipstick Under My Burkha director Alankrita Shrivastava. She said that this held true for all industries and all kind of panels and delegations. She was not alone, several others also took to Twitter to vent out their anguish.
Would be great to have female representation in these delegations. It is 2018. https://t.co/HoxGbptgwX
— Alankrita Shrivastava (@alankrita601) December 18, 2018
This is not the first time the PM has been criticized for holding a meeting with all-male panels. A smaller delegation from the film industry itself had met the PM earlier in October.
