Ex-CM writes to HDK over shifting film city

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah has urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to reconsider his decision to shift the location of the proposed film city to Ramanagar from Mysuru.

“Previous Congress government had announced in its budget to set up the film city in Mysuru as desired by Kannada actor late Rajkumar. A 100-acre land was also granted for this purpose,” he stated in a letter dated July 31 to Kumaraswamy.

Siddaramaiah hails from Mysuru district, Kumaraswamy represents Ramanagar constituency in the Assembly. The chief minister, in his recent budget, earmarked Rs 70 crore for setting up the film city and a film university in Ramanagar under public-private partnership.

Siddaramaiah, who is also the chairman of the coordination and monitoring committee of the coalition government, had recently written to the chief minister, asking him not to withdraw syndicate members from universities. But the government did not pay heed to him and went ahead with the withdrawal.

“It has been the long-pending demand of the Kannada filmdom to have the film city in Mysuru. It is the most sought-after destination for Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi film producers,” the former chief minister said. Sources close to Siddaramaiah said he is likely to raise the issues of syndicate members and the film city at the next coordination panel meeting.