KCR’s 2,000-acre film city receives a thumbs-up

It was a euphoric moment for 20,000 film federation employees on Thursday evening as Telangana State Chief Minister KCR announced his plans to set up a 2,000-acre state-of-the-art film city in Hyderabad. The office bearers of the federation seemed to be on cloud nine with the decision.

One of them was veteran writer Paruchuri Gopalakrishna who welcomed the move wholeheartedly. “The news puts a full stop to the rumours which said that industry would shift to another place. Hyderabad has always been a favourable place for shooting films and with this announcement it would become even more favourable. We hope this new film city would be named after people like Kantharao, Dasarathi or Suddhala Hanumanthu,” he says.

Director’s association president Veera Shankar thanked KCR for restoring the confidence among the fraternity who had their apprehensions about the film industry moving to AP. “A 2,000-acre film city is a big thing. Even the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, where we took our baby steps in filmmaking, couldn’t come up with such an announcement,” he says.

Another member to be happy with the decision is KL Prasad, member of Writers Association who insists that employees should work harder to put Hyderabad as the most-preferred shooting destination for Indian films now that KCR has taken a great initiative. “Out of 70 films that the Bengal film industry churns out every year, 50 are shot in Hyderabad, which has a great geographical advantage. A filmmaker needs safety, security and a friendly atmosphere for shooting and the city has been providing this all for the past many years. With this decision of KCR, employees should go the extra mile to put the city on the national map.”

Rajesh Reddy, employee’s federation general secretary says that KCR is the first chief minister who understood the problems of the industry without even consulting them. He is keen to see that daily workers’ wages are increased. “Some people work for 16-18 hours per day for a meagre pay of Rs 500-600. We want the wages to be increased keeping in mind the current high prices of essential commodities,” he says.

Producer D Suresh Babu, who owns one of the prominent studios in the city, the Ramanaidu Film Studios, says that the announcement is a very exciting one. Heaping high praise on KCR for making such an encouraging decision, he points out, “The new cinema city he has promised is something I look forward to. This is the chance for Telugu cinema to go global. Not only will we take our cinema to an international platform but Hyderabad will become the hub for international cinema.”

“Such a studio means extra-large sets – something we do not have today – and the chance to have good infrastructure. Studios like these will facilitate the filming of movies like ‘Titanic’ which require huge water bodies. When such a studio actually comes into being, it is going to change our standing internationally.”

He adds, “We need to dream really big things. Going global is what we should set our eyes on now.”

Award-winning director Allani Sreedhar echoes Suresh Babu and says that it was high time the decision was taken. He recalls having put in this request several times earlier. “KCR is reacting very positively with relation to the film industry’s development in Telangana. I think this is a great indication.”

He adds that in spite of having several studios in the state, expansion is always welcome as the industry is forever growing. He states, “We should welcome this decision as it could mean the dawn of something new. It could mean we are aiming not just for the attention of national filmmakers but also for international attention.”