Bengaluru: The State Government will set up a mega Film City on 150-acre land at Hessarghatta on the outskirts of Bengaluru and the process will be expedited,  said Deputy Chief Minister Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan. With the announcement, the Government has gone back to the original location that the late CM Ramakrishna Hegde had suggested. 

In the 1980s, Hegde Government had first announced Film City. This announcement was repeated in 2004 when S.M. Krishna was CM. In 2017, during the reign of Siddharamaiah, the Film City was sanctioned to Himmavu in Varuna Constituency and when H.D. Kumaraswamy (JD-S-Congress) was the CM, the Film City was proposed to be built at Ramanagara. After Yediyurappa took over as CM, he had proposed to build the Film City inside the Roerich and Devika Rani Estate at Tataguni in Bengaluru. 

Now the Government has decided to establish the Film City at Hessarghatta by dropping its earlier plan to set it up at the Roerich and Devika Rani Estate due to environmental concerns.

Dr. Ashwathnarayan made this announcement at a meeting of a few representatives from the Kannada film industry, led by Shivrajkumar, producer Srikanth and ‘KGF’ co-producer Karthik. The delegation had met the Dy.CM to apprise him of the problems faced by the industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There are some 450 acres of land, of which the Animal Husbandry Department has been asked to hand over 150 acres for the Film City, which will provide infrastructure for quality cinema,” Dr. Ashwathnarayan told the delegation. He said the Government intends to build a Film City that is a cut above others in the world. “It will have all the facilities required to produce a film, including an animation centre,” he added. 

Issues like concessions for movie theatres, streamlining GST for film producers and a dedicated Film Promotion Board were some of the measures Karnataka will take up to revive the ailing Kannada film industry. 

 “Our current cinema policy has expired. A new and a comprehensive policy will be formulated. We are looking at a Kannada Cinema Promotion Board to offer incentives and concessions, set up affordable Janata theatres to revive the Kannada film industry. These reforms will be incorporated into the new policy,” Dr. Ashwathnarayan said. 

Shivrajkumar also brought up the issue of delays in subsidies for filmmakers and the 40-member limit on shooting crews. The Dy.CM was told that the existing subsidy process was cumbersome and it has to be time-bound. Dr. Ashwathnarayan said he would arrange a meeting of the film industry representatives with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa next week.