The Most Film Friendly State Award was announced today by the Chairman of the Jury, Ramesh Sippy. The Most Film Friendly State Awards would be presented by President of India on May 3rd, 2018 during the presentation of the National Film Awards.

Madhya Pradesh was conferred the award for the Most Film Friendly State for its efforts towards easing filming in the State by creating a well-structured web site, film friendly infrastructure, offering incentives, maintaining databases, undertaking marketing and promotional initiatives, unanimously by the Jury from among the 16 States that participated. Madhya Pradesh also received positive feedback from established filmmakers who have shot there.

The efforts taken by the State to present their case for the Awards were also appreciated. State of Uttarakhand is given a Special Mention Certificate to recognize the efforts made by the State of Uttarakhand towards creating a film friendly environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Ramesh Sippy Chairman of the Jury said ÂThe Jury members laud the continuing efforts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat towards creating a film friendly eco system in their States and hope that they keep up the good work. This year Madhya Pradesh where a lot of filmmakers have shot over the years, has won the award due to the ease of filming that the State offers along with excellent on ground support and filmic infrastructure, an informative website and incentives for film making. Their entry was also presented beautifully with all required documents given in a very comprehensive manner. The jury would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts made by Uttarakhand in this direction, despite it being a relatively new State with a difficult terrain and hence has been given the Special Mention.Â

The jury for selecting the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017 was chaired by acclaimed filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and comprising of renowned filmmakers, Nagraj Manjule, Raja Krishna Menon, Vivek Agnihotri, and Shri Uday Singh, MD, Motion Picture Distributors Association.