It has lush green hills on one side and pristine beaches on the other. The verdant landscape puts Visakhapatnam on a firm footing to be the cinema hub of Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s assurance that the port city will be developed as a ‘film hub’ has re-kindled the hopes of the industry. To explore the full potential of the region, the industry is now pitching for allocation of land, incentives for setting up studios, acting schools and other amenities, to attract leading players set up shop here.
Vizag has been a favourite destination for shootings films for over half-a-century, apart from the fact that the city has contributed to almost all aspects of film-making by churning out actors, producers, lyricists, story writers, singers, junior artistes, film trainers and sound engineers. “Visakhapatnam is a film maker’s paradise. Noted director K. Balachander has immortalised the beautiful locations with his magnum opus Maro Charitra , which was later remade in Hindi as Ek Duje Ke Liye ,” says creative director and producer A.S. Geetha Krishna, who has launched a film school and has plans to open a studio for the benefit of low-budget film makers. Theatre Arts Department of Andhra University has also contributed to the industry well. “The concept of street plays in A.P. has its roots in Andhra University and it was popularised by Professor Attili Krishna Rao,” department head P. Bobby Vardhan recalls. Sakshi Ranga Rao, writer Kasi Viswanadh, Ganesh Patro, Misro, late Krishna Chaitanya, Modukuri Johnson, Potti Prasad and Vizag Prasad were also once very much associated with the department. May it be actors Vankayala, Poornima, Gautami or sound engineer Pallikonda Adhrusta Deepak, who worked as assistant of Oscar awardee A.R. Rehman, are all from the city.
The film industry feels Vizag has everything needed to make films. Post production works are also done here, though in a limited way, and ‘Future Frames’, a digital studio run by Kurra Vijay Kumar, is an ideal location for dubbing works. “Absence of facilities for procuring equipment such as cameras, track and trolleys, generator vans and caravans on hire is the only shortcoming,” says film trainer Lanka Satyanand, who trained the likes of Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu. A dozen films are being shot in Vizag every day. Once it becomes a film hub, the number could go up, says A.P. Film Producers’ Council former chairman Natti Kumar.
