It is final: the proposed film city will be in Bengaluru. After much confusion as to where the ambitious film city will be located, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced that a film city of “global standards in Karnataka will be established with private participation at Bengaluru at ₹500 crore.”
With this, the long-winding journey of the proposed film city, which went from Ramanagaram to Mysuru, has settled in Bengaluru. This was also one of the requests that actor Yash, who was the guest of honour at Bengaluru International Film Festival, put forth to the Chief Minister.
But where can the project come up has certain sections worried. Earlier proposals made to establish a film city in Hesarghatta and Roerich estate in Tataguni drew sharp criticism.
Artist Suresh Kumar G., who has been vocal against the proposal of setting up a film city in Tataguni, said not just environmentalists, even artists are against the idea. “We don’t know where the government plans to set it up. But lung spaces such as Tataguni should be protected, given that we have so few left – such as Cubbon Park and Lalbagh,” he said.
“Existing spaces for artists – auditoriums, university spaces – are underutilised. So why in the name of art are they coming up with this proposal? And why only in Bengaluru? This is only for tourism. Technically, with the advances in graphics and other aspects, there is no necessity of one,” he added.
Environmentalists, who were signatories to a letter to the CM against Hesarghatta being a possible location echoed the same thoughts. “Film-makers prefer using real locations. Why consider an eco-sensitive zone as a location? If it turns out to be Hesarghatta, we will go to court,” said one of them.