160 acres of land at Himmavu in Nanjangud taluk handed over to Department of Information and Public Relations; DPR to be ready this December

Mysore/Mysuru: The long awaited Film City project is set to become a reality, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserting that, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for proposed Film City will be ready by this December, followed by unhindered procedures without any prolonged delay.

He was addressing the gathering during the State Film Awards ceremony for the years 2018 and 2019, organised at Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) Convocation Hall on Hunsur Road in city yesterday.

Kannada, filmdom

Siddaramaiah said, the Government is committed for the cause of Kannada language and filmdom. Accordingly, the Government is making constant efforts to build Film City in Mysuru and 160 acres of land at Himmavu in Nanjangud taluk, has been already handed over to the Department of Information and Public Relations. The DPR will be ready by December and the project will be taken up under Public Private Participation (PPP) model. The Film City in Mysuru will be built on the model of Film City in Hyderabad, added Siddaramaiah.

Subsidy

Referring to the subsidy for Kannada films pending since three years, Siddaramaiah assured to release subsidy all together, but advised the film makers against making films, eyeing subsidy. Instead, the films that may be watched by everyone and can influence the society with quality in production should be made.

Film Awards

Making a pointed reference to the State Film Awards for the years 2018 and 2019 being conferred this year, Siddaramaiah, though acknowledged that the awards were further delayed even after his Government came to power two-and-a-half years ago, stated that he has held discussions with Department of Information and Public Relations to avoid recurring delay. The awards for the years 2020 and 2021 will also be conferred soon. It would be meaningless if the awards are conferred late and hence it has been decided to confer the awards in the same year.

Effective media

Siddaramaiah opined that, film is the most effective media among all, with a larger impact on people and society. There were instances of cine lovers influenced by films undergoing change, by aping the roles of their favourite heroes in real life too. Now, there is a vice-versa in situation.

Haven’t watched Kantara-1 yet…

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, he hasn’t watched the film ‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1’ yet. Going down memory lane, he said, “When I was a student, I was watching movies daily. Now, there has been an increase in number of films, but I have stopped watching them. If somebody insists, I go to movies. But, I haven’t watched the film ‘Kantara-1’ yet. I have heard many saying, the movie is good and has raked in a good money, besides impacting the society. However, I haven’t watched the movie due to paucity of time, but will watch the movie for sure.”