The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has announced plans to create a giant new film and media cluster in his state, as a counterweight to Mumbai’s dominance in the Hindi film industry. With far superior facilities and connectivity to other parts of the country, the monk-CEO believes that his planned film city will be more accessible both to upcoming and new filmmakers, as well as to established veterans.
The Mumbai film industry, pejoratively referred to as Bollywood, has been under fire for its favouritism towards its own, as well as its multiple barriers to entry to newcomers. Adityanath wants to change this. He aims to create a level playing field by taking control of key facilities and financial resources away from industry cliques, thus making them accessible to outsiders.
Some of Mumbai’s best known actors, writers, producers and directors are currently in the grip of a series of scandals, which have raised considerable anger amongst Indians in general. Their misdemeanours range from allegations of bullying and stalling the careers of newcomers, the cooption of a parallel drug industry, and even colluding with Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to embed Islamist propaganda within Indian screenplays. Islamism and Pakistani infiltration into the Hindi film industry has been alleged for years, but is only now being investigated by various Indian intelligence and crime prevention agencies. These investigations are the byproduct of the alleged murder of a rising new star of Hindi cinema, Sushant Singh Rajput. His death was swiftly passed of as a suicide by a number of his senior industry colleagues without any investigations having occurred, and despite evidence later emerging to the contrary.
Yogi Adityanath’s planned film city is likely to be located in the newly developed Gautam Buddh Nagar, less than an hour from New Delhi, and near a brand new airport also being built by the Yogi government. The film city is expected to become one of the largest in the world, and also intended to serve international productions. Located near a number of historic sites and cities, the new film complex will also encourage a greater focus on amplifying India’s own voice and heritage.
Uttar Pradesh is the cultural epicentre of India. The world’s oldest city, Varanasi, is here. The birthplace of Lord Ram is here. Filmakers will get the best of both worlds here; India’s ancient heritage, as well as her most modern facilities.
Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
We will report again with an in-depth study of the Chief Minister’s plans for the new film city, once they become available.
