Imphal, Sept. 1: Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh stated that Manipuri Cinema has its role in exposing Manipuri culture to the world and it is the duty of all of us to preserve and promote our culture and custom.
The Chief Minister said this while speaking on the Re- opening ceremony of Usha Cinema at Paona Bazar, Imphal today. Stressing the need to strengthen and expose the rich cultural heritage of Manipur to the world the Chief Minister said that the newly inaugurated Manipur University of Culture is aimed at preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of the state. He pointed out that cinema is taking a big role in social reformation and to this end the newly inaugurated Manipur State Film & Television Institute will go a long way in the development of Manipuri cinema he added. Saying the importance of cinema halls to screen the films he also expressed his concern about the dwindling of cinema halls in the state. He also expressed the need to rethink by those concerned about the banning of Hindi films in the State while expressing the need to produce Manipuri films with English subtitles for exposing it to the viewers of the world.
Speaking as the Guest of Honour, Film Critic (National Awardee) and Director DIPR Meghachandra Kongbam lamented on the sorry state of cinema halls in Manipur. He said that earlier there was around 58 cinema halls in the State out of which 10 halls were in Imphal but around 10 cinema halls are running currently in the entire state. He also mentioned that according to UNESCO for every population of 10 thousand there must be a cinema hall and as such about 150 cinema halls must be in Manipur. As an audio-visual medium cinema can be a good medium for exchange of cultures among countries in the world which will help in bringing closure to each other and bring peace in the world.
L. Surjakanta Sharma, Chairman Film Forum Manipur presided over the function. Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly Shri Th. Lokeshore Singh, Ministers Shri Govindas Konthouhjam and Ksh Biren singh also attended the function.
It may be mentioned that Usha Cinema was inaugurated in 1961 and started screening films from 1970s and completely stopped screening films since November 2015. With the re-opening of the hall screening of films shall be starting from 6th of this month tentatively.
