FILM CITY REMAINS A MIRAGE

FILM CITY REMAINS A MIRAGE
Nearly four decades after government land was allotted for a film city, the project remains a pipe dream. Worse, some 23 acres of the 325 acres of land have been gifted away to various parties
S SHYAM PRASAD


It was to have been the country’s first film city, but 37 years after the state government allotted 325 acres of land for the purpose, Sandalwood’s dream project is yet to take off. And complicating matters is the fact that substantial chunks of the land at Hesaraghatta have over the years been given to various parties. The lessee, Karnataka Film Industry Development Corporation (KFIDC), has now been wound up and Kanteerava Studio is the caretaker of the land.
While 18 acres of the land were given to the late danseuse Protima Bedi for her Nrityagram, another portion on Miller Tank Bed was given to the department of social welfare. Adarsha Film Institute and the Government Film and Television Institute are the other beneficiaries.
The land originally belonged to the animal welfare department and was given to KFIDC on a 99-year lease, of which 37 years have already elapsed. A total of 302 acres is now under the control of Kanteerava Studio, a government-majority body. But it is the private parties who could conceivably act as spoilers to a film city project. An access road has been built in the middle of the land by a private resort, ‘Our Native Village’, permission for which was given by the previous management of Kanteerava Studio. Thus, even if the elusive film city does come up some day, there is every possibility of the resort claiming the right of use to the road. Moreover, half of the plot given for Protima Bedi’s Nrityagram is now a hotel owned by her daughter Pooja Bedi and managed by the Taj group. In fact, there are murmurs within the film industry that some private parties have their eye on the prime property and are creating hurdles in the way of the project.
Film industry proposals to develop the land have been lying idle for years. TS Nagabharana, chairperson of the newly constituted Kannada Film Academy, says, “KFIDC developed a blueprint for the film city. But nothing happened. It is the government that has to take a decision, not any film industry representative or the Academy. The government gives away hundreds of acres to IT and BT companies under the public-private model. They could do the same with the film city. Film people can get involved only when the government takes the initiative.”
Rajendra Singh Babu, president of the Karnataka Film Directors’ Association, says, “It is better to forget about the land now. Ravichandran and I submitted a proposal for the development of the film city. But the government did not care. Over the years, they have been quietly giving away the land to all kinds of people unrelated to films.”
Girish Mattannavar, chairperson of Kanteerava Studio, says the permission to build a private road was given by a previous managing director of the studio. “It would not be easy to take up a big project like the film city immediately. The studio is just a temporary caretaker after KFIDC was wound up. As a first step, the studio has initiated planting of 20,000 saplings around the boundary of the land. The government — especially the chief minister and minister Katta Subramanya Naidu — has responded positively to the demands of the film industry. I would not like to comment on the film city project or the land, but I can promise that it will be used for the development of the film industry,” he says.