Hindustan Times - Haryana government proposes to set up two film cities.
Haryana government proposes to set up two film cities. By Hindustan Times
The Haryana government has planned to set up two film cities in the state — one at Gurugram and the other at Pinjore. This was announced by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in his budget speech on Friday.
The state government has been working on developing a film city for the last two years and, in 2018, it had come up with a film policy for Haryana to boost local production and provide latest facilities to filmmakers from across the country, who want to produce films in the state.
“We plan to promote filmmaking across the state and facilities for the same would be created. We plan to develop two film cities, one at Pinjore and another at Gurugram, to give a boost to this industry,” said Khattar in his address.
Earlier on January 15, the CM had announced the plan to develop a film city and said that project would be developed on the basis of a public-private partnership.
Satish Kaushik, a Bollywood veteran, who is also the chairperson of Haryana Film Promotion Board, said that setting up film cities in Gurugram and Pinjore will give a boost to local artists and technicians. “The entertainment industry is expanding across the country. Local culture, traditions, language in Haryana can be utilised by the industry at both the local and national levels,” said Kaushik, adding that recent films shot in Haryana have won both critical acclaim and commercial success.
Kaushik, who hails from Mahendragarh district in Haryana, further said that right incentives, subsidies and ensuring single-window clearances would ensure the success of the film policy and the two film cities.
Earlier Khattar on January 15 had also announced that a state-level award will be given to artists in Haryana to encourage their work and to promote arts. In January 2020, the state government had changed the name of Haryana Film Cell to Haryana Film Promotion Board and the name of the High Powered Committee was designated as Governing Council.
The decision to set up a new film city has been welcomed by the city-based businessmen and politicians, who said it was a timely decision and would promote both culture and artists and bring in business as well. “Several small films and advertisements were already being shot in Gurugram and setting up a film city is only a logical decision. It will not only promote local culture and art but also create job and business opportunities in the state,” said Rao Inderjit Singh, Gurguram MP.
Realtors, meanwhile, said that government’s proposal to develop a film city was a boon for the region. “Creation of a film city will make a positive impact on Gurugram’s realty market and new employment opportunities will also be generated,” said Ashish Sarin, CEO, AlphaCorp.
As per the film policy of 2018, films have been accorded the status of industry and granted benefits under the enterprise promotion policy of the state. It also made provisions for a single-window system, incentives for producing local films, promotion of film shoots in Haryana, provision for security to filmmakers, holding award functions, preventing piracy and several other measures to boost the industry
This story was also carried by Jagran