Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday said that 150 acres of land had been identified near Bengaluru for the much-delayed Film City project, and that the work could be started soon if the film fraternity agreed to the location of the land. He, however, did not reveal the area where the Film City will come up.
Responding to a question by film actor and Congress member Jaimala on the Film City, he said that though it had been spoken about for several decades, there was no allocation. “For the first time, I have allocated ₹500 crore. We have identified 150 acres near Bengaluru and I will take you all to the location. If all of you agree, we can immediately start work on it,” he said.
Film City was first proposed during late Ramakrishna Hedge regime and 350 acres was allotted at Hessarghatta, which, however, ran into legal trouble. While erstwhile Siddaramaiah government allocated 108 acres of land in Mysuru, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy wanted to move it to Ramanagaram.
Jaimala favours Mysuru
Earlier, Ms. Jaimala said that though for the first time an allocation had been made in the Budget, there was confusion over whether it will be in Mysuru, Ramanagaram or Bengaluru. “There is no clarity. Let the project happen in Mysuru because it was in the Mysuru palace in 1929 that the then Maharaja captured a play called ‘Nirupama’ using a camera. That is the birth place of Kannada cinema,” she added. Ms. Jaimala suggested that the Mysuru land could be utilised to build a studio and technical infrastructure could be set up in Bengaluru. Another member and film producer Sandesh Nagaraj also urged the Chief Minister to expedite the process of setting up the Film City.
Mr. Yediyurappa, however, requested them not to divert from the plan of having it in Bengaluru. “If you really want to have a Film City, do not divert attention to Mysuru or Ramanagaram. I will take all of you to show the land in the first week of April,” he added.
