Will Karnataka's first film city in Mysuru take shape anytime soon?

The project was first proposed in 1980

Mysuru: Announcement of the state's first Film City still remains on papers even after it was first proposed 45 years ago. However, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah allotting Rs 500 crore in the state budget for building an "international level" Film City on 150-acre land in his home district Mysuru, there is hope again.

"KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board) has already acquired 110 acres of land at Immavu in Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru district and handed it over to the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) which has started implementing the project four months ago. Officials of (Public Works Department) PWD have invited a tender to build a compound around it. KIADB is taking measures to acquire 40 acres more for the project soon," T K Harish, Assistant Director of DIPR and nodal officer for the project, said.

He added, "It has been planned to take up the project on Public Private Partnership. There are contemplations to ensure that the project becomes one-stop destination from shooting to final Editing with all infrastructure required for a film production. The Detailed Project Report will be prepared soon to take up the project."

M R Rajaram, Secretary of Mysore City Film Exhibitors Association and Vice President of Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation and owner of Gayathri theatre of Mysuru said, "After much delay, the state's first film city must become a practical reality. They should form a committee to give shape to the project by involving stakeholders from film industries, including theatre owners, active producers, directors, actors from Mysuru who have experience and exposure to film industry and who can come up with ideas on what is practically required for the industry. It should have Mysuru Deputy Commissioner and Mysore City Corporation to speed up the project by preventing any undue delay for inspections, permissions and approvals for various aspects from the government."

"It is not possible to build a film city like Ramoji film city on such small land. Even now, our producers go to other states for various technical works. So this project in Mysuru must at least become a proper destination for all technical works with all infrastructure. They should have sound-proof buildings for animations, graphics required for at least introductory portion. There should be facilities for re-recording, remicing, editing, digital conversion among others. They should give these facilities to sandalwood producers on priority with reasonable cost. This will give a huge boost to the sandalwood industry and reduce production cost," he said.

"The project should be self-sustaining. Like Ramoji film city, they should come up with some permanent sets with theme parks like disney land, where tourists can visit and the city can generate its own revenue. Ramoji film city is build on about 1600 acres land. So they should allot more land at a place which has good road connectivity to airport," he said.

Mysore Travels Association President, B S Prashanth said, "Film city is one of the most important projects for Mysuru. This will increase celebrity footfall in Mysuru, thereby increasing airport footfall and demand for star hotels. It will cater employment opportunities to numerous skilled and unskilled labour. As Mysuru has many scenic tourist places nearby, filmmakers will definitely make the most out of it. As a result, the economy and tourism of the city will flourish. Even after sanctioning the land, we don't know why the government has not started working on it yet. This was announced years ago and nothing has been done since then. It's high time the government takes action and proceeds with implementation of this project. It will help greatly in the development of Mysuru," he said.

Anikethana, a Mysurean said, "Even though sandalwood industry, its fraternity actors, directors, music directors, singers and others have made the Indian film industry rich with their own unique contributions, it is ironic that we still don't have a film city in the state. While Bengaluru is choking, Mysuru is the next destination for such projects. Now, with road connectivity after the completion of Express Highway, and a proposal to expand the city to Bruhat Mysuru, it is time that they come up with this project soon when we have a CM who is from this district. After Maharajas who built KRS, Brindavan, palace, zoo, what have we built new in Mysuru to attract more tourists? It is the apt place to build a new thing like film city soon."

The state government led by Ramakrishna Hegde first proposed in 1980 to come up with Film City in Hesaraghatta. It was revived in 2004 when S M Krishna was CM. It was proposed again in 2017 when Siddaramaiah was CM. It was proposed to come up in Ramanagara in 2018 when H D Kumaraswamy was leading the state. Later in 2019, when B S Yeddyurappa was CM, they planned to have it at Devika Rani Roerich Estate in Bengaluru. It was proposed again by Siddaramaiah led state government in 2023 and they have even earmarked funds for the project.