Will tinsel town's mystique vanish?

FREEZE FRAME

Mumbai may lose its locational advantage.

Most great cities have one claim to fame which outstrips all its other achievements and attributes. Bombay (Mumbai)'s instant recall for millions of people at home and abroad is Bollywood.

In the past 100 years the metropolis has been the womb of a million dreamers who in turn have woven dreams for millions around the world.

Since 1896 when the Lumiere brothers of France screened the first moving images on their wondrous cinematographe at Watson's Hotel (the present Army & Navy Building) in downtown Mumbai, the city has continued to be associated with movies.

It was here that Save Dada went on to shoot India's first film, a short titled "The Wrestlers" in 1902. Other pioneers like Manek Sethna followed and Cursetji Baliwala began screening imported short films in tent cinemas.

But it was not until the Nashik-based Dadasaheb Phalke made his first feature "Raja Harishchandra" in 1913 that the foundations of India's film industry were laid.

Between 1913 and 1930, companies like Hindustan Studios, Sharda, Maharashtra Film Company, Krishna, Imperial and Sagar Movietone made over 800 films in Bombay.

Then came Bombay Talkies and Filmistan.

Legendary studios like Imperial, Ranjit, Bombay Talkies, Rajkamal and later Filmistan, Mehboob, RK and Natraj were an integral part of the cityscape.

Film makers like Mehboob Khan, V Shantaram, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt and stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Nargis, Madhubala and Meena Kumari added to the mystique of Bombay cinema.

The tradition continues with the Chopras, the Ghais, the Barjatyas, Johars and the Khans.

In its early days Bombay had competition in film making from Madras, Lahore, Calcutta and Poona and Kolhapur. For some strange reason Bombay alone had that elusive seductive charisma which made its movies and environs magical.

It was and remains the El Dorado for actors and writers, cameramen and singers, for stragglers and achievers. Mesmerised by the larger-than-life images, tinsel town continues to entice Page 3 People a century later. This has always been a USP of Mumbai.

Bollywood films have become the global flavour of the new millennium. The government, the media and even the business chambers are jostling to get a share of glamour and money.

Bollywood cinema with all its idiosyncrasies, song and dance and convoluted plots is now watched all around the world. Even at home Bollywood is going through a revival.

New multiplexes are being built all over India and several companies have entered the business. There is institutional financing; completion bonds insurance and listed companies.

Satellite TV, the internet and broadband technology are all bringing newer business opportunities. No wonder that Mumbai employs more than a million people in its dream factories with a combined turnover of Rs 5,000 crore annually.

Sadly, there has been little addition to the infrastructure. Like Mumbai city's infrastructure,

Bollywood's infrastructure too needs a make over. Now that the government of Maharashtra wants to launch a rejuvenation plan for Mumbai, some money should be spent on improving the entertainment industry's infrastructure.

There are no two opinions that the future of showbiz is bright. Bollywood is now reaching that critical mass where it can be a part of the global entertainment scene.

Cable piracy is a menace but there is no need to be despondent, as many are in film world. Newer revenue streams like in-film advertising and satellite rights are flowing in even as the box office experiences an occasional hiccup.

This requires an attitudinal change within the industry, the state government and the civic authorities. Already major film production is happening in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram.

Except for a half-built Film City, no new initiative has been taken to create new facilities for film and television production. Yes, a number of small post production and sound studios have cropped up. But they are invariably housed in cramped commercial buildings.

More and more Bollywood producers are going abroad to shoot films because many foreign governments are offering special incentives. In Mumbai, on the other hand, most studios are busy only with television work.

In the new digital environment Mumbai may soon lose its locational advantage in the entertainment industry. Suitable incentives like cheap land and power have to be made available to it.

What is at stake are not just Bollywood and the flourishing TV industry but the future of lakhs of people and the potential to grow into a multi-billion dollar industry within the next few years.

It is one India's best-known brands and, after software, its most promising export.

Besides, the film industry with its large paraphernalia of actors and directors, set workers and light men, musicians and cameramen, wardrobe designers, caterers, wood suppliers, prop shops and countless others is not only a means of livelihood but an identity card for the city of Mumbai.

(Amit Khanna is chairman of Reliance Entertainment. The views expressed here are his own.)