'For women, freedom includes fighting against stereotypes, taboos' Says Anurag Thakur

As part of the celebration of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,' Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Tuesday launched 'Azadi Ki Amrit Kahaniya', a short video series created in collaboration with OTT platform, Netflix.

Also present at the occasion were Minister of State Dr L. Murugan, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Apurva Chandra, and Head of Global TV, Netflix Bela Bajaria.

Speaking on the occasion, Thakur pointed out that the Ministry of I&B has been a vital part of Amrit Mahotsav celebrations with various initiatives.

"The idea of Azadi is intertwined with women emancipation in India and the term 'Azadi' or 'freedom' holds a wider connotation for women who have to fight stereotypes and taboos in society as well. Emancipation of women was the hallmark of the emancipation index of a society, Thakur said.

On the collaboration with Netflix, Thakur said: "This initiative aims to bring out inspiring stories of Indians which shall motivate and empower more people to achieve their goals."

"This was a long term partnership where different themes and diverse stories will be highlighted. Netflix will be producing 25 videos on themes, including women empowerment, environment and sustainable development and other days of significance. Netflix will produce two-minute short films for the Ministry which will be shared on social media platforms and telecast on Doordarshan network," Thakur said.

Thakur elaborated on the multiple dimensions of this partnership and said Netflix and the Ministry will continue to organise training workshops and master classes to encourage film makers in India to create inspiring content on various topics under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

"Netflix and the ministry will partner to develop a creative ecosystem by organising training programmes for post-production, VFX, animation, music production among others and will be organized on ground and virtually," Thakur said.

Women change makers Basanti Devi, Padma-award winning environmentalist from Pithoragarh known for her contribution towards revitalising the Kosi river; Anshu Jamsenpa, a Padma Shri awardee for being the first woman in the world to summit Mount Everest twice in five days in 2017 and Harshini Kanhekar, the first female firefighter in India, were also present on the occasion.

Thakur lauded the remarkable achievements of the three women on the dais and said their stories will inspire people across the country.

He also expressed hope that after this collaboration, filmmakers from across the world will come to India to make films and documentaries for not just the Indian audience but to showcase it to the entire world.

"The partnership between the Ministry and Netflix was only a beginning and will not be limited to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav," Thakur added.

Secretary ministry of I&B Apurva Chandra said that the two entities signed a collaboration agreement and these three videos released today are the first set produced under this partnership.

"A deeper collaboration featuring a long running series on our freedom struggle and the stories that need to be told to the world is in the pipeline," Chandra said. (IANS)

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