Updated: September 23, 2020 6:10:49 pm
While the project is large-scale, the government has been putting emphasis on making it one of the largest movie cities in the world.
Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled on Tuesday (September 22) an ambitious plan to establish a “film city” and invited the film fraternity to come to the state.
The CM announced that 1,000 acres had been identified in Gautam Budh Nagar by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), where a Dedicated Infotainment Zone with world-class civil, public and technological facilities would be established, according to a CMO statement.
Adityanath had announced on Friday (September 18) that the “largest and most beautiful film city in the country” would be established in the Gautam Budh Nagar district. Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar visited him on Sunday, and on Tuesday, several film personalities, including Anupam Kher, Udit Narayan and Satish Kaushik, attended a meeting with Adityanath.
While there is enthusiasm for the project, with government officials indicating that it also intends to create employment opportunities in the state, this is not the first time that a UP government has attempted to woo the film industry to establish a base in the state. state. Those first attempts could not get off the ground.
What did the government announce and what follow-up measures were taken?
On September 18, while conducting a Meerut Division review meeting, Chief Minister Adityanath directed officials to search for land in the jurisdiction of NOIDA, the Noida Industrial Development Authority, or the Yamuna Highway Industrial Development Authority. to establish a “film city”. The move attracted a lot of attention and sparked reactions from the film industry.
Officials acted swiftly, and on the same day the “Expression of Interest” was invited to appoint an agency to evaluate the options for the creation of a “Film City or Infotainment Zone”. Interested agencies were asked to submit their applications within the next 15 days.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath holds a meeting on the development of the Film City proposal in Lucknow on September 22 (Photo PTI).
Has the government done anything so far to demonstrate its commitment to the film industry?
In recent years, UP has offered financial incentives of up to Rs 2 million to attract filmmakers to the state. The scripts for these films are approved by the state government, and these films must meet certain criteria under existing state film policy.
Under the policy, a movie made in Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli, or Bhojpuri can get up to 50 percent of the cost of the movie as a subsidy, and up to 25 percent of the cost if it’s made in Hindi, English, or any other language. another language.
This grant is capped at Rs 1 crore if at least 50 per cent of the shooting has been done in the state, and Rs 2 crore if two-thirds of the film is shot in UP.
The policy also provides additional incentives if the director also shoots a second or third film in the state; In such cases, the ceiling of the grant can be as high as Rs 2.50 million provided that two-thirds of the shooting days are in the state for one-third of successive films by the same director or producer.
If five main artists in the film are from Uttar Pradesh, the state provides an additional 25 lakh rupee subsidy for salaries; In case all artists are from the state, the producer can receive up to Rs 50 lakh.
The policy also provides that if any producer after the filming of the film carries out its processing in the state, then 50 percent of the cost of processing, up to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh, would be awarded as an additional subsidy.
The policy further provides that if a film training institute is established in any major city other than Noida or Greater Noida, the state would provide 50 percent, or up to Rs 50 lakh, of the cost as a subsidy.
‘Film Bandhu’ has awarded a grant of Rs 22.59 million to 38 large and small films in Hindi and Bhojpuri over the past three years, which shot at least half of the film in UP.
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What are some of the films that have benefited from this drive to attract filmmakers?
Among the films that have received Rs 2 crore are those of Akshay Kumar Jolly LLB 2 and Bathroom: Ek Prem Katha; while those that have been given more than Rs 1 crore include Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety, Luptand Kaashi in search of Ganges. The Bhojpuri movie Saiyan Superstar He was given Rs 64 lakh, and Dabang Sarkar got Rs 61 lakh.
Like other states, UP also grants tax breaks for movies.
How were the previous attempts to establish a “film city” in UP?
In 2015, two film cities were proposed in Uttar Pradesh and agreements were signed in the presence of then-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, director and producer Boney Kapoor and Bhojpuri actor (and now Gorakhpur BJP MP) Ravi Kishan . It was proposed that one of these film cities be developed along the Lucknow-Agra highway and the other in the Trans Ganga City project in Unnao.
The government had offered about 300 acres of land to each of these two proposed movie cities. It was proposed that they present the public-private partnership model, with a proposed investment of approximately Rs 700 million. However, neither project saw the light of day.
Government sources said the projects could not move forward largely because no agreement could be reached on the precise location of the land. Ravi Kishan had wanted lands around Gorakhpur.
In fact, the practice of offering incentives to filmmakers is quite old – some government officials said it started in 1998 and later governments continued the policy after making changes. The Akhilesh government increased the subsidy from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, and relaxed the previous requirement that at least 70 percent of the film should be shot in UP, to 50 percent.
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