Kolkata, September 4, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Veteran actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty on Friday announced a 30 per cent subsidy for film productions shooting in West Bengal, shortly after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari named him cultural advisor to the state government.
Chakraborty said the incentive was aimed at attracting filmmakers from across India to Bengal and helping revive the state’s film industry.
“We will try to bring back whatever we have lost. We are giving 30 per cent subsidy so that we can bring everyone, the whole of India, to Bengal. We are asking people to come to Bengal and shoot here,” Chakraborty told reporters after his appointment was announced.
The actor had proposed the subsidy to Adhikari during a programme marking the birth centenary of legendary Bengali actor Uttam Kumar a day earlier. The Chief Minister subsequently agreed to the proposal. Reports said the proposed incentive could be adjusted against taxes rather than necessarily being paid as a direct cash subsidy.
Chakraborty’s appointment as cultural advisor was announced by Adhikari during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Uttam Kumar Film Centre at New Town on Friday. The proposed centre is being developed at a cost of ₹25 crore, with the amount already sanctioned by the state’s Information and Cultural Affairs Department.
Adhikari said experts from the Bengali film industry would be entrusted with finalising the design of the film centre and that the government would not interfere in the creative aspects of the project.
The new cultural policy push comes amid the state government’s efforts to strengthen Bengal’s film and cultural ecosystem. The proposed film centre is part of programmes marking Uttam Kumar’s birth centenary and is intended to add to the state’s cinematic infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Chakraborty also reacted sharply when asked about former Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee’s threat to stage protests outside BJP leaders’ residences in Delhi.
Referring to Banerjee’s criticism of the BJP and her allegations of “atrocities”, Chakraborty questioned whether such remarks were appropriate coming from her. He said he did not want to insult anyone by speaking excessively but maintained that he had personally experienced such treatment.
Banerjee had announced plans to take the protest to New Delhi following an alleged attack on the Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s party office. She had accused the BJP of sending “goons” and warned that she would demonstrate outside the residences of BJP leaders in the national capital if what she described as atrocities were not stopped.
The latest developments place Chakraborty in a more prominent role in the state’s cultural policy, with the actor-turned-politician expected to work on initiatives aimed at strengthening Bengal’s film industry and attracting productions to the state.
FOLLOW NOW
