Yogi boasts best connectivity to India’s grandest showbiz zone
On February 21, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in an amiable competition as to which of these two big states would emerge as the first $ 1-trillion economy in India. Modi was addressing a select gathering in Lucknow after inaugurating the two-day UP Investors’ Summit, which went on to garner investment proposals worth ~4.68 trillion.
While the UP government has planned to float a global tender for selecting a consultant to draft the roadmap for the $1-trillion economy vision, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has upped the ante in the presumptive rivalry with Maharashtra by announcing a mega 1,000-acre Film City project in Noida to rival the Mumbai film industry, popularly known as Bollywood.
The site of the proposed state-of-art ‘Dedicated Infotainment Zone’ has been deftly zeroed in to provide the Film City with the best connectivity matrix spanning both air and surface, apart from added proximity to the national capital.
The land has been identified by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and the UP additional chief secretary, Home department, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, recently inspected the site and issued necessary instructions to field officials to expedite the processes.
On his part, Adityanath has been uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the project, especially the “good” connectivity factor. The Film City will be at an hour’s distance from New Delhi, and in the vicinity of the Agra-greater Noida Yamuna Expressway and the proposed Jewar International Airport, which is projected as Asia’s biggest greenfield airport.
“We will put in all efforts needed to make the UP Film City the best Dedicated Infotainment Zone in India,” the CM had exclaimed, while unveiling the project and interacting with a motley group of Bollywood personalities in Lucknow recently. Some noted film artistes and directors — Anupam Kher, Atul Agnihotri, Saundarya Rajnikant, Paresh Rawal, Manoj Muntasir and Satish Kaushik — were also on a virtual link during the meet.
According to the state government, the Film City will benefit from the rich cultural and tourism heritage in the Western UP region, including Taj Mahal in Agra and Lord Krishna’s birthplace in Mathura. At the same time, the proposed logistics hub in Noida — dry port and freight corridor projects — should provide additional impetus to the faster movement of people and goods, once the Film City is up and running.
The Adityanath government has planned to make the
Film City a one-stop destination for the entire filmmaking value chain, offering all modern civil, public, and technological facilities to attract national and international filmmakers, investors, producers and studio owners.
According to Adityanath, the government is also aware of the current trend of over-the-top (OTT) and media streaming platforms, and high capacity, world-class data centre — along with the entire preproduction and post-production infrastructure, processing labs, VFX and digital technology of international level — will be made available.
The fact that the Film City will be in the vicinity of seven states, the UP government has positioned the prestigious project as the epicentre of a “mosaic” of culture, dialects, and the religious, Vedic and ‘mythological historicity’ unparalleled to any other Indian state.
Popular Bhojpuri and Hindi film actor Ravi Kishan, who is also the MP from Adityanath’s turf of Gorakhpur, said the CM has planned for a futuristic project, which will persist for hundreds of years to come. Apart from the filmrelated infrastructure, the Film City will be dotted with star hotels, resorts, entertainment zones, cinema, parks and other public utilities to attract tourists and kids à la Disneyland, he told Business Standard, adding a single-window system will exist for the benefit of filmmakers.
“Today, nearly 500,000 people from the Hindi belt work in the Mumbai film industry. Once the Film City is operational, they would not be forced to migrate outside in the search of work. While the Hindi-speaking belt will get its own film industry, workers will get a more dignified and respectable work environment,” Kishan observed.
Two film city projects were also proposed during the previous Akhilesh Yadav government (2012-17). However, none could materialise beyond the ceremonial press conference and occasional references in the state government press notes.
Meanwhile, the Adityanath dispensation is mulling revisiting its latest UP Film Policy 2018 and making suitable amendments therein to lure filmmakers to its proposed Film City.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’S) state unit Secretary Chandra Mohan dubbed the project a “landmark” development in the course of the “New UP” vision. “The Film City will not only arrest the migration from UP, but also spur the socio-economic development in the entire state.”