With Yogi Determined To Create A Film City, UP Looking For Investors
GREATER NOIDA, (IANS) – Another film city is expected to open in India soon on a 1,000-acre plot of land in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar. Even though Uttar Pradesh already has a Film City in NOIDA’s Sector 16, the new one that will be built will be much bigger and is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s pet project.
The first phase of the project will cover 230 acres and technical bids for its development were opened on January 5.
Four major firms participated in the bidding process, namely Supersonic Techno build Private Ltd (Maddock Films, Cape of Good Films LLP & others), Bayview Projects LLP (backed by film-maker Boney Kapoor), Super Cassettes Industries Private Ltd (T-Series) and 4 Lions Films Private Ltd (backed by film-maker KC Bokadia).
This is the third time that the bid for the development of Film City has been floated after two previous attempts failed to attract investors.
The Yogi Government is determined to develop the project in the Yamuna Authority area and the first phase will see the development of the Film City in 230 acres, including 75 acres for commercial activities and 155 acres for film-related activities.
The estimated cost of the first phase is Rs 1,510 crore and the total cost of developing the Film City on the thousand acres will be Rs 10,000 crore.
In return for the 90-year license, the authority will receive a share of the revenue of the Film City. The company constructing it will not have to pay anything for seven years, and only after that, they will have to pay based on the revenue-sharing model.
Currently, there are four major film cities in the country, including Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, Film City in Mumbai, Innovative Film City in Bengaluru, and MGR Film City in Chennai.
Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad was established in 1966 by Telugu film producer Ramoji Rao and its campus is the largest film city campus in India. Located 25 kms from Hyderabad it is spread over 2,000 acres of land or approximately 8.2 kilometers. There are also about 50 shooting floors here. It has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest studio campus and is the largest integrated film city in the world.
Film City, Mumbai is also an integrated film studio established in Mumbai’s Goregaon area. This studio, also known as Dada Saheb Phalke Chitranagari, is located near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The studio was built by the state government in 1977 to provide facilities to the film industry and is spread over an area of 520 acres in the suburbs of Mumbai. There are about 16 studios and 42 shooting locations such as temples, lakes, hills, picnic spots, gardens, fountains, courts, villages, jails, and gardens. There is also a man-made waterfall here, which has been a shooting location for all Bollywood films.
Innovative Film City, Bengaluru is in Bidadi, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. There are various shooting locations here, such as Aqua Kingdom, Dino Park, Mini Golf, Haunted Mansion, Innovative Talkies, Zoo Painting, and Mirror Maze, as well as Cartoon City. There are various types of museums here, such as Fossil Museum, Wax Museum, Tribal Museum, and Oddities Museum. In addition to this, Innovative Talkies also has a 3D studio tour, a photo booth, and a 4D Final Theater.
MGR Film City, Chennai is located on the outskirts of Chennai in the Taramani studio complex. It was established in 1994 to attract film producers and various tourists. MGR Film City has been closed since 2002.
