Showtime in Mysuru

Finally, it is show time in City of Palaces. A film city project is getting a right push in Karnataka’s Mysuru. The state could have been a pioneer in establishing the film city as the plan had been announced over 40 years back. But, the government of Karnataka dithered while the Kannada film industry, which had tied itself to Chennai, did not push enough for a film city in Karnataka.
In India, the studio system has been active since 1930s, but a film city concept is relatively new. Karnataka has seen various private studios come up and go down. However, a government backed film city was on the script but never got off the ground.
The state is the host of Kanteerava Studios, which happens to be one of the oldest (established in March 1966) and largest (nearly 20 acres) film-oriented business entity in the country. Kanteerava is a public film studio in Bangalore, predominantly used for the production of Kannada language movies and tele serials. The Studios was established on March 18 of 1966, with the encouragement and involvement of Gubbi Veeeranna, Tipatur S. KariBasavaiah, K.V. Shankaregowda, Andanappa Doddameti, Rathnavarma Hegade and the state government. It was launched as a joint-stock company on 20 acres of land. The studio was started with the Government of Karnataka holding 93 percent of the share capital and the remaining 7 percent by private shareholders.
Now, the much-talked about upcoming film city near Mysuru will be set up on 160 acre of land for various facilities with public private business model.
When completed, the film city is expected to house all modern amenities required for film-making. It will also have a theatre, multiple studios, multiplex, theme park, hotels and other amenities. The project is also aimed at boosting tourism in the region, which is already on the world list.
What is not in the film city script is infrastructure – how do people using the city approach it. If you cannot reach it, nobody will go. This question comes to the table because of issues near Kanteerava Studios in Bangalore. The approach to the Studios is always jammed with traffic and the road project near it is progressing at snail’s pace.
As a consequence, after the plan for film city was announced the film community workers sought land near film city for them to stay and avoid all the hassles of reaching the place. This demand is smart and valid to be considered by the authorities, who normally operate from silos’ mindset.