It was the perfect setting for Rajnikanth’s judgment scene in Padayappa and later for Linga . The overcast horizons in Barso Re, Megha Megha from Guru, featuring Aishwarya Rai, are partly from this verdant landscape. Melkote has a lot going for it as a ‘must have’ film location. The village has only one problem — it does not make any money from this.
The local Gram Panchayat has decided to change that. It will now collect Rs. 5,000 a day for non-Kannada film production, Rs. 3,000 for Kannada movies, Rs. 1,500 for Kannada tele-serials, and Rs. 3,000 for non-Kannada serials.
The decision is unavoidable, Panchayat members say, because film producers capture dreamy sequences here, but leave behind mounds of garbage.
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Melkote, about 40 km from Mysuru, is ringed by hillocks full of thick greenery. The Cauvery flows nearby. It has historical monuments, including those from Tipu Sultan’s time. For two decades now, over 60 movies and several serials in Hindi and all south Indian languages have been shot here, against the backdrop of the dozen hillocks, many canals, paddy fields, coconut groves and temples.
Though producers get permission from the Mandya district administration to shoot, no money comes to the Panchayat, which caters to a population of about 10,000, a member said.
When a film is shot, a 250 or 300-strong production team takes over. “The members light fires and cook food. They simply throw away the leftovers, paper plates, polythene covers and other waste,” the member said. The big stars mostly make a day trip. When the film teams leave, the Panchayat has to fund a clean-up. Not any more. It resolved recently to fix a fee under the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Act.
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