Film City, Rajyotsava gift to Mysore
Medical education and district in-charge minister S A Ramdas on Friday announced that blue print of the proposed film city in Mysore is ready and will be unveiled during the month of November.
He was speaking at the opening of film festival organised as part of Dasara festivities at Kalamandira in the city.
The minister said that there has been a demand for an exclusive facility for the benefit of film making since the days of Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan.
There are 100 odd scenic spots in and around the city alone. The plan will not be restricted to the present situation, but for the next two decades, the minister added.
Cine actor Ambareesh went on a nostalgic trip remembering the Dasara he was witness to.
‘Maharaja saw me’
If the maharaja turned towards you at jamboo savari, blessed were those people who were uber happy to share among others that ‘Maharaja saw me’. The villagers those days were calling it as ‘Belakina Habba’ (festival of lights).
Noted film director and Dasara Film Sub-committee chairman S V Rajendra Singh Babu said most of the artistes who reached the peak of their career made a start from Mysore.
The fist Tamil movie that saw the debut of M G Ramachandran popular as MGR was shot here.
Mayflower the pride of Mysore for blossoming in abundance then had a fan in none other than showman of Bollywood Raj Kapoor.
He was coming down to the city of palaces only to shoot Mayflower, said Babu. Another great filmmaker of Bollywood V Shantharam shot ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje’ in Talkad and surrounding areas, after scouting places for the location.
He exhorted the government to host international film festival here.
He cited the example of Cannes a small town in France that hosts much acclaimed Cannes Film Festival every year.
He said that the days are not far when film making will grow manifold with a turn over of Rs one lakh crore.
He claimed that India has the rare distinction of being the only nation of having produced most number of films at 1,257 per year to a population of 121 crore.
A total of 71 Kannada films will be screened in Lido, Lakshmi and Gokul theatres here, besides Swarna Kamal winning films and entries to the same at Scouts and Guides Auditorium.
Star-studded event
The inaugural session also provided the opportunity for the gathering to have a glimpse of their favourite stars- young and old alike. For old timers, yesteryear heroines Leelavathi and Jayanthi made the day complete, while for youngsters Vinod Raj, Aditya and Shirin were like angels descending on earth. Vinod Raj also danced to his hit-number ‘Dance dance raja dance..’ from his debut film- Krishna Nee Kunidaga much to the delight of his fans.
There was also Tara, who is also the vice-president of the sub-committee.
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