Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan highlighted the government's creative-sector training drive and anti-piracy reforms at the valedictory function of the International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2026. Akashvani reported that he presented the best-film award in the J&K select section to Tasrufdaar, also titled The Djinns of Kashmir.
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Chanchal Kumar encouraged filmmakers from the region to use Film Bazaar to meet buyers and film-market participants. He also named the WAVES Summit and Indian Institute of Creative Technologies as opportunities for young creators, and spoke of cooperation between the ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir government to support emerging talent.
NFDC's published programme identifies the twentieth WAVES Film Bazaar as a Goa event scheduled for November 20-24, 2026. Its listed sections include the Co-Production Market, Viewing Room, Work-in-Progress Lab and Screenwriters' Lab. The co-production programme connects selected South Asian-themed projects with producers, distributors, sales agents and financiers; its 2026 edition also includes a documentary section alongside feature projects.
The institute mentioned at the festival was already running study programmes at the NFDC Complex in Mumbai. In a March 18 review, the ministry reported around 150 students and 11 incubated startups at IICT, with production and post-production infrastructure available. Those figures describe the March review, while a larger Film City campus was then planned for classes beginning in 2028.
Murugan's piracy remarks also followed an August 5 parliamentary reply detailing the ministry's enforcement arrangements. Copyright holders can submit complaints about online pirated films, and the authorised Joint Secretary for Films can issue takedown notices to intermediaries. The reply reported directions to disable 7,393 URLs, including 4,996 Telegram channels and 1,263 websites. Together, the festival remarks and programme records identify specific market, training and copyright-enforcement services available within the government's cinema initiatives. These are counts of online locations targeted for removal, not a count of distinct films or producers.
