After Bihar, Shatrughan Sinha turns to MP for film city

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha's proposed film city project is taking shape. A MP government agency has identified the land for the project and Sinha will meet Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and senior bureaucrats on October 7.

The Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam, an arm of the Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (MPSIDC), had been given the task of identifying land for the proposed film city.

"We have identified land in some localities in Bhopal and its vicinity in Chiklaud, Neelbar, Satgarhi, Shahganj, Kerwa dam area, Dewatia (Raisen district) and Delawari (near forest range)," a senior official told Business Standard, adding, "we have informed Sinha and he will come to Bhopal on October 6 and meet the chief minister and other bureaucrats on October 7."

However, officials have skipped Budni (district Sehore), where Dilip Kumar's Naya Daur was shot in 1954. Also avoided was Pachmarhi, where Pradeep Krishna had created the award-winning Messy Sahib and Shahrukh Khan had his Ashoka shot.

After a lukewarm response from the Bihar Industrial Promotion Board, Sinha wrote to the MP government, urging it to identify at least 200 acres.

However, the size of the investment will be known only after his discussion with Chauhan. The Project Implementation and Clearance Board (PICB) discussed the proposal on 22 August.

Bhopal, which is also known as City of Lakes, offers a perfect ambience for filmmakers. "We are ready to support any investor; most of the Indian states have this kind of facilities. Sinha will come with a team of experts to explore the possibilities of acquiring land; the project has been given in-principle sanction," said Praveen Garg, managing director of the MPSIDC.

The proposed film city is likely to have the most advanced TV and film studios, an acting school and a hotel. Sinha floated a similar "Bihar Film City" concept to the Bihar government some time ago.

In the recent past film-makers tried their luck in Bhopal and other places and churned out stuff like Shool (starring Manoj Vajpayee), Voh Tera Naam Tha (Amreesh Puri), Tarqeeb (starring Tabu and Nana Patekar), to name a few. But they failed to mint money at the box-office.