Will Karnataka ever get a Film City?

The idea has taken too many twists and turns since it was first mooted in the 1980s

The Karnataka government’s decision to set up a film city in Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru is a fresh chapter for the 40-year-old project waiting to see the light of day.

The Rs 500 crore film city is set to come up on a public-private partnership model on 70-80 acres in Himmavu in Nanjangud.

The decision comes after green activists opposed the present government’s proposal to set it up on 150 acres in Hesaraghatta, near Bengaluru. They said it would destroy the only remaining stretch of grassland in the region.

In 1980, chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde had announced a film city and earmarked 200 acres in Hesaraghatta, an hour’s drive from central Bengaluru. The plan never took off.

For the longest time, Chennai was the one-stop point for film production in the south. Since the late ‘90s, big-budget filmmakers have extensively used Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad.

So why is Karnataka still lacking in a film city?

Filmmaker Rajendra Singh Babu says the government dilly-dallied in the ’80s.

“The industry was small. Films didn’t do Rs 50 crore business like they do today. Big producers like myself, V Ravichandran, KCN Chandrashekar and Parvathamma Rajkumar had asked the government to give us 10 acres each. But our idea was sabotaged by people within the industry who said we would sell the land and make money,” Babu explains.

He reckons N T Rama Rao as chief minister proved to be a game-changer for the Telugu film industry. “He invited top filmmakers and offered 20 acres to each of them. That is how today Hyderabad has the famous Padmalaya and Saradhi Studios,” he says.

The S M Krishna government, in 1999, revived the idea but with little success. During Siddaramaiah’s tenure, Mysuru became the proposed location. In 2018, Ramanagara was selected by the H D Kumaraswamy government. The BJP government, in 2019, chose the Roerich estate on Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru. The idea was shelved after environmentalists opposed it.

After the Roerich fracas, the tourism department identified Mysuru as the ideal location. Ernst and Young gave an evaluation report to the government. “We still have the design with us,” said Priyank Kharge, then tourism minister.

“We were inspired by what happened in the United Kingdom. The London Olympics wasn’t held in London but outside the city. The place became a hub and started catering to the city,” he says.

Acclaimed director B Suresha blames real estate greed for the confusion. “People want to take government land and do their own business and not facilitate filmmaking,” he says.

The PPP model will bring its own challenges, says KCN Chandrashekar, producer of blockbuster Kannada films. “The government must put in a clause saying that the Kannada industry must get priority and concessional rates,” he says.

Reputed producer Rockline Venkatesh says a committee of experienced directors and producers should be consulted on how to go about the project.

Producers like the idea of Mysuru as the location. “There are so many natural locations there. Given the pollution and traffic, it’s impossible to have a film city in Bengaluru,” says Chandrashekar.

Babu says the film city in Mysuru must also be a tourist attraction like Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. “It must have a children’s park, multiplexes and restaurants. M G Ramachandran, Mani Ratnam and Rajinikanth loved to shoot in Mysuru. But they found it difficult to get permissions and moved elsewhere,” he says.

Here and there

1980: Hegde government allots 200 acres in Hesaraghatta.

2004: S M Krishna regime revives project.

2017: Siddaramaiah government plans to move it to Mysuru.

2018: Kumaraswamy government changes location to Ramanagara.

2019: Yediyurappa picks 468.33 acre Roerich estate on Kanakapura Road as location.

2021: Plan now is to set up film city on 110 acres in Himmavu near Mysuru.