Film city dream takes wings again

The project was first conceived in late 1970s; 360 acres of land earmarked by Devaraj Urs

Tourism minister Janardhana Reddy, by announcing to set up a film city in memory of Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, has prompted film fraternity to dream about the project again.

The minister has said the government will take up the project on a private-public participation model.

The project was first conceived in the late 1970s. It was Devaraj Urs who earmarked 360 acres of land in Hesaraghatta belonging to Animal Husbandry department for the project. Later some portions of the land were allotted to Nrithyagrama, launched by well known dancer Prothima Bedi, Adarsha Film and TV Institute and Department of Technical Education to conduct diploma courses in film making. Finally, around 300 acres of land remained unoccupied.

Kannada film fraternity is hopeful that at least now the project will be materialised. Producers’ Association President KCN Chandrashekhar said he would soon write to Janardhana Reddy requesting him to convene a meeting of representatives from the industry to discuss features of the project. “The film city can give a fillip to Kannada film industry. Producers will make use of the city for out-door shooting. Besides, it supports tourism sector too,” he said.

A senior officer in the Tourism Department said the state cabinet has to clear the project before inviting bidders for the project.

Having a film city for Kannada film industry has been the dream of many film personalities in Karnataka. The Veerappa Moily government constituted a committee headed by journalist V N Subbarao to make recommendations on implementing the project. The committee visited film cities in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. The committee submitted its report in March 1994.

Masterplan for project

The government had also requested artist John Devaraj to design a masterplan for the project. By then he had visited Hollywood film cities and had done art work for Malgudi Days. His design had 110 features, including lake, shipyard and forest. “I submitted the design fifteen years ago. So far no government has shown interest in this regard,” the artist said. The committee’s report and artist’s masterplan are in the cold storage.

Meanwhile, many in the Kannada film industry, including Ravichandran, Parvathamma Rajkumar, Rockline Venkatesh and KCN Chandrashekhar, wanted portions of the land for various film production related activities.

Actor cum producer Ravichandran designed a project and named it ‘Sandalwood.’ His dream project included a swimming pool, landscapes, artificial water falls, water bodies and facilities for recreation. Ravichandran submitted his project to Deve Gowda, when the latter was the Chief Minister.

But it did not materialise. Successive governments cited paucity of funds to implement the project.