35% subsidy on shooting films in Saudi Arabia: Film critic Ajit Rai said – the biggest cinema industry will be created by 2030, the people there are Bollywood fans.

Famous film critic and journalist Ajit Rai will attend the third Red Sea International Film Festival to be held in Saudi Arabia as a special guest. This ceremony will be held from 30 November to 9 December 2023. Ajit believes that Saudi Arabia is going to become a big market for films in the future.

Dainik Bhaskar spoke to Ajit in this regard. He said- People have made wrong perception about Saudi Arabia. The people there love cinema very much. Especially very crazy about Bollywood.

When Hollywood veteran actress Sharon Stone was told that the person sitting next to her was Shahrukh Khan, her mouth was left open in surprise. This picture is taken during the second Red Sea Film Festival.

The government is taking big steps to establish the film industry there. The government there is also giving 35% subsidy on film making. If a foreign film maker is making a film there at a cost of Rs 1 crore, he will get back Rs 35 lakh. If any foreign company makes a film with Arab artists and technicians, it will get 50% subsidy.

It was Ajit who gave the idea of ​​starting a film festival to Saudi officials.
Ajit narrated this special moment through social media. He wrote – At the 71st Cannes Film Festival (2018), when Ahmed Al Majid, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s General Council Authority, asked me for suggestions for the development of the film industry in Arabia, I advised him to start an international film festival.

I was surprised that they even started the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2021. Last year I was invited to the second Red Sea International Film Festival where Shah Rukh Khan was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ajit Rai with a Syrian film critic.

Shahrukh’s Dinky is the first film to be shot in Saudi.
Saudi Arabia is showing great interest in co-production with India. It has started with Shahrukh Khan’s film ‘Dinky’. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman believes that Arabia will become the world’s largest film industry by 2030.

At present there are 25 to 30 theaters in Saudi. They will increase its number in the coming time. Big machines used for film making are being bought from outside.