The meeting comes weeks after the prime minister met Bollywood producers and discussed issues faced by the industry, which led to the reduction in GST on film tickets by the government
Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Narendra Modi, Vicky Kaushal, Alia Bhatt, and others/picture courtesy: Ekta Kapoor's Instagram account
A 14-member Bollywood delegation of young stars, led by filmmaker Karan Johar, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to discuss how the industry can contribute towards nation building.
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The delegation also included directors Rohit Shetty and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, producers Ekta Kapoor and Mahaveer Jain, actors Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar and Sidharth Malhotra. Johar later took to Instagram to share a group selfie with Modi.
"Powerful and timely conversations can bring about change and this was one of what we hope will become a regular conversation. Meeting the Honourable Prime Minister @narendramodi today was an incredible opportunity [sic]", he wrote in the caption.
Johar said the meeting would ignite positive changes. "As a community, there is a huge interest to contribute to nation building. There is so much that we want to do. And can do and this dialogue was towards how and what ways we can do that. When the youngest country (in demography) joins hands with the largest movie industry in the world, we hope to be a force to reckon with. Together we would love to inspire and ignite positive changes to a transformative India", he added.
The director-producer also thanked the prime minister for the GST reduction in movie ticket prices. The producers' meeting with Modi in December had drawn flak on social media for lack of female representation on the panel. Thursday's panel had Bhumi, Alia, Ekta and Ashwini.
"It was an honour to meet our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji with inspiring lovely friends. An interaction that takes storytelling to new heights. Building a better society through entertainment. Thank you for the GST reduction and space to connect thoughts," Ashwini later wrote. Ekta, who also shared the group selfie on her Instagram, said there was a fruitful discussion on merging education and entertainment.
"Thank you honourable Prime Minister for an insightful meeting. A young delegation met this visionary leader to start conversations on how to merge education and entertainment. On my account, I can say the aura and the vision have left me overwhelmed," she wrote. Ayushmann and Bhumi also took to their social media accounts to thank the PM for the meeting.
Also read: Rajkummar Rao: Such initiatives can catalyse change in cinema
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