Privatisation of Sree Kanteerava Studios thrown into limbo

With the Kannada film hero Rajkumar being buried at the state government-owned Kanteerava Studios in the city, the future of the studio's privatisation which had been on the anvil has become uncertain.

"Many of Rajkumar's films were shot at the Sree Kanteerava Studios Ltd. It was one of his favourite studios. Now, we have to rethink about its privatisation. A final decision will be taken only after consulting the superstar's family," sources in the chief minister's secretariat told Business Standard here on Friday.

"The issue of privatising the studios had not come up for discussion after the Karnataka Development Front (KDF) came to power. Now that Rajkumar has been laid to rest in the studios' premises, the land becomes a public property. Since we also intend to erect a memorial at the studios, we have to work out a different plan," the sources added.

On Friday, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy met Rajkumar's family members. On Thursday, the actor's family members had said that Rajkumar had a dream for the Kannada film industry.

"We have not been informed about the details of the dream by the actor's family. If it is related to the Kanteerava Studios, we have an open mind to work out any plan to realise the dream," the sources said.

The 40-year-old Sree Kanteerava Studios Ltd is located in Nandini Layout, in the northern part of the city, spread over 15 acres. The government holds 93 per cent of the share capital (Rs 87.98 lakh) and 113 private shareholders the rest. Following the mushrooming of technologically advanced studios in Bangalore, Kanteerava Studios lost its importance and reported losses.

The PSU was referred to the Department of Disinvestment and Reforms in and in 2001, the department recommended the privatisation of the PSU.

However, owing to protests from the Kannada film fraternity, the government decided to put on hold the privatisation of the studios. In the absence of any concrete plan, the Kanteerava Studios continued to function.

For the first time in its history, Kanteerava Studios posted a profit of Rs 8.20 lakh in 2004-05. The erstwhile JD(S)-Congress coalition government dropped the move to privatise the PSU in 2005. Instead, it decided to develop the studios in association with a private partner. The government roped in the Maharashtra government consultancy agency, SICOM to conduct a study for this.

According to sources, SICOM proposed measures to upgrade the Kanteerava Studios to bring them on a par with successful filmmaking and multimedia centres in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. It advocated the privatisation of the studio with an investment of 76 per cent by private players and the remaining 24 per cent by the government.

The agency also suggested the creation of post-production and recording facilities, establishment of an animation studio, preview centres and a media training institute, a multiplex and shopping mall, an entertainment complex and housing complex for media artistes and technicians.

Subsequently, the plans remained on paper as the KDF came to power in the state.