TN’s Rs 500-cr film city plan remains in the box

CHENNAI: It was with much fanfare that the State government announced a Rs 500-crore film city with state-of-the-art facilities in Tiruvallur in January 2024. The land for it was identified last September. However, more than a year later, the construction has yet to begin, with industry sources claiming that it may never see the light of day.

Chief Minister MK Stalin announced the film city at the ‘Kalaignar 100’ event in January 2024. It would be a modern facility with a top-class studio for VFX and post-production work. Months later, in September, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who owns a production house, zeroed in on a 150-acre land near Poonamallee. That is when the project was stalled.

Speaking to DT Next, Murali Ramasamy, president of the Tamil Film Producers’ Council, who is also a member of the development committee for the film city project, said it was Kamal Haasan who spoke to the Chief Minister and got approvals for the project.

The rationale that was put forth was that most Tamil films are now being shot in Ramoji Rao Film City, where the producers have to bear the high daily wages charged by the Andhra Pradesh FEFSI employees. This has led to a spike in production costs while workers here have lost jobs. The new film city here was expected to set things right.

“The designs are ready and talks were on with potential partner firms. However, further development will take place only after the Assembly elections next year. We will have to wait to see which direction it's headed,” he said.

When asked about the project, actor-producer Vishal Krishna, general secretary, Nadigar Sangam, who is also a former president of TFPC, said Chennai has the necessary infrastructure required to shoot a film.

“The Producers’ Council should request the government to renovate the MGR Film City in Taramani, which is now in a dilapidated state, so that we can start using the facility immediately. That is all we ask for."