Shillong — Meghalaya has achieved a major creative milestone with the completion of the first full-length feature film under the Meghalaya Film Tourism Policy 2025, signalling the state’s emergence as a serious film destination.
The Telugu feature “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, directed by Guni Manchikanti and produced by Chitralayam Studios, has completed 100% of its shoot in Meghalaya, with every frame filmed across the state’s striking landscapes, particularly in Sohra. The movie was wrapped up in just 25 days and engaged nearly 2,000 local youth across various departments, making it one of Meghalaya’s largest creative employment initiatives so far.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, acknowledging the achievement, said the film reflects the state’s creative ambition, production readiness and the potential of the Film Tourism Policy.
“Under the Meghalaya Film Policy, the first movie has been completed. This is a Telugu film shot within 25 days, and 100% of the shooting took place right here in Meghalaya, mostly in the Sohra area. You will be happy to know that close to 2,000 of our youths were employed during the shooting of this film. I am very happy, and I hope many more such films will come and Meghalaya will become a very popular destination,” he said.
Producer Venu Donepudi praised the support of the Meghalaya government, the efficiency of local teams and the enabling policy environment that helped complete a film of this scale in record time.
“It has been a great experience; under your leadership and with the beautiful people of Meghalaya, we were able to complete the film in less than 30 days, around 25 days, which is going to be a record in itself. This film is going to be released in Khasi as well, and we would like to invite you for the premiere in Hyderabad,” he said, reflecting national filmmakers’ growing confidence in Meghalaya’s creative ecosystem.
The completion of this first feature comes at a time when Meghalaya’s Vision 2032 identifies tourism and the creative economy among ten key drivers to transform the state into a $10 billion economy by 2028 and $16 billion by 2032. With its dramatic terrain, rich cultural identity and young population, Meghalaya is positioning itself as a vibrant hub for storytelling, content creation and film-led tourism.
The Meghalaya Film Tourism Policy 2025 underpins this vision by offering financial incentives, streamlined approvals via the Invest Meghalaya Portal, and institutional support for national and international productions. Subsidies of up to ₹1 crore or 25% of production cost are available for the first ten films, with additional incentives for local filmmakers, films that feature local cast, crew, music or languages, and projects that choose to premiere on the state’s official OTT platform Hello Meghalaya.
Hello Meghalaya has become a key cultural engine, with over 4.4 lakh downloads and more than 2 crore views, functioning as both a streaming platform and a digital archive for local content. It has onboarded 125+ Khasi, Garo and Pnar filmmakers and more than 300 music and digital creators, and now hosts 500+ titles, including 83 feature films in three local languages, reinforcing Meghalaya’s commitment to linguistic and cultural diversity.
As “Baa Baa Black Sheep” — a high-energy crime-comedy featuring a flamboyant gangster, misfit friends, eccentric criminals and a city-wide chase sparked by the discovery of Mahatma Gandhi’s long-lost watch — moves towards its national premiere, it stands as a proof-of-concept for Meghalaya’s film-readiness. Its planned multilingual release, including a Khasi version, further underscores the state’s commitment to cultural visibility and inclusive storytelling.
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