Mysuru:  Here is some good news for film buffs as the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has aired its opinion that it was better if the proposed Film City comes up in Mysuru than in Ramanagara or in Bengaluru. 

The Film City was sanctioned to Himmavu in Varuna constituency when Siddharamaiah was the CM and then when H.D. Kumaraswamy was the CM, the Film City was proposed to be built at Ramanagara. Recently, CM Yediyurappa had proposed to build the Film City inside the Tataguni Estate in Bengaluru. The 468.33 acres of Tataguni Estate was once owned by artist Svetoslav Roerich and his actress wife Devika Rani. Now it is with the State Government. 

 On Sunday, during the inauguration of Dasara Film Festival at Kalamandira, KFCC President D.R. Jairaj said that Mysuru was an ideal place for Film City and there is a growing demand for it instead of moving the same to Ramanagara or Tataguni Estate. “The KFCC has requested CM Yediyurappa to build the Film City in Mysuru (116-acre land at Himmavu) itself as it is a favoured spot for outdoor film shootings even today, thanks to many tourist destinations,” he said. 

Inaugurating the Film Festival, Deputy CM Govind M. Karjol said that Kannada films and artistes need to be promoted. He said art, literature and culture are highlighted during ‘Nada Habba’ in a significant manner. 

“Now, it is time to promote Kannada films. Dasara Film festival is a boon for the film industry and it helps promoting the artistes as well. During Wadiyars’ rule, they had given opportunity to artistes to perform. Now, the Government is encouraging the artistes,” he said.  

Film piracy, biggest threat 

Actor Jaggesh opined that film piracy was the biggest threat as people shoot the movie while watching in cinemas and share it widely on social media. The recent movie by Sudeep Pailwan suffered a loss of Rs. 5 crore due to piracy, he said. 

MLA L. Nagendra, MLC K.T. Srikantegowda, Producer-Director Vijayalakshmi Singh, actresses Ashika Ranganath, Shubha Raksha, Producer and MLC Sandesh Nagaraj were present.