New Delhi, Apr 19 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh bagged the 'Most Film Friendly State Award' on Thursday.

The prize would be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind on May 3, during the presentation of the National Film Awards.

Madhya Pradesh was conferred the award 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.

It 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 recognise the efforts made by it towards creating a film friendly environment.

Announcing the award, Mr Ramesh Sippy said,'The 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. In addition, 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.'

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 Uday Singh, MD, Motion Picture Distributors Association.

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