JOIN USStressing that Mumbai and Bollywood are inseparable, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the state government has taken up a major modernisation plan for the Filmcity here in Goregaon, one of the largest studio-complexes in the country.
Scaling up facilities, providing Bollywood tourism and bringing the studio-complex on par with the internationally well-known complexes are the larger aims of the modernisation project, the chief minister said.
“The government at the Centre and in Maharashtra are for ease of doing business... Bollywood is a serious business in Mumbai and we will do everything to ensure that it remains competitive and to the international standards,” Fadnavis said on Monday night.
Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Tata Realty CEO Sanjay Ubale, a former IAS officer and an infrastructure expert, were also present at the event.
“We are transforming Mumbai in every way and Bollywood would drive the world to Mumbai,” the chief minister said, reacting to Bhatt’s comments that cheaper costs, superior infrastructure and availability of technology are making Bollywood filmmakers to shoot outside the country.
Officials at Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation that runs the Filmcity said the modernisation of Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, as the Filmcity is known, will be undertaken to bring it to international standards.
Spread over 500 acres, the Filmcity has all kinds of terrains for shooting, right from rivers, bridges, long winding roads to greenery and hills.
Perched between the Western Express Highway and Vihar Lake, the Filmcity is in the vicinity of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
It has nearly 40 different outdoor locations, 16 well-equipped sound-proof studios and 80 air-conditioned make up rooms.
Recording studios equipped with state-of-the-art dubbing and mixing facilities and editing suites for 16/35 mm films are also available.
Besides having ready-to-use sound effects and qualified sound recordists, the Filmcity also has an agreement with Reliance Media Works to offer high quality colour processing, digital studio, animation works, and VFX and film restoration services inside the studio complex.
About 1,200 films are shot in the complex each year.