Project initiated six years ago, now Maharashtra govt has taken steps to turn the film studio complex into a major tourist attraction.
Mumbai: Mumbai’s landmark Film City is set to get a makeover, finally.
Six years after initiating the project, the Maharashtra government has now taken its first concrete step towards putting this integrated film studio complex on the country’s tourist map as well as making it a one-stop shop for content producers.
The state government has invited bids for the long-pending plan for a revamp of Film City, located in Mumbai’s northern suburb of Goregaon, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,600 crore.
The plan, to be executed on a public-private partnership model, involves building a Hollywood-style theme park, a Bollywood museum, more and improved shooting locations, teleport facilities, hotels and convention centres.
“We have consulted actors, production houses, unions and other stakeholders about their requirements in the Film City before preparing a tentative plan for its revamp,” Chandrakant Kolekar, deputy engineer at the Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation — the state agency that oversees the Film City — told ThePrint.
Changes on the cards
The redeveloped Film City — spread over an area of 280 acres — will boast a 1.09-km long “monumental avenue”, comprising a Hollywood-themed park, simulator rides, viewing galleries, an amphitheatre and food courts.
It will also have a Bollywood museum with space set aside to showcase Maharashtra’s culture and work in the Marathi language.
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The museum will be equipped with film archives, film exhibits and will also showcase the process of film-making.
The proposed monumental avenue and museum will occupy about 62 acres, over a fifth of the total area. Along with a grand entry gate to Film City, the museum and theme park areas are estimated to cost Rs 989.33 crore.
With the Film City located in a green and ecologically diverse area of Mumbai, the government has also planned a bio-diversity park over 33 acres at a cost of Rs 57.7 crore. The concessionaire is expected to develop and hand over the park to the Bombay Natural History Society.
“The government approved the plan in 2017, after which we started preparing to issue bids,” Kolekar said.
The project has been in the works since 2011. Kolekar said the government will pick the bidder that promises the highest revenue share to the state.
“Once bids are awarded, we expect the construction period to take five years following which the concessionaire will operate the Film City for the next 35 years,” he added.
More studios, production facilities
In its current form, Film City has 11 studios that are woefully inadequate to meet the film industry’s ever multiplying needs. Besides, a number of the studios are in a dilapidated condition and unsafe for work, said officials in charge of the Film City.
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They said, often precarious means are used to get water and electricity supply for outdoor shoots. There are also no post-production facilities, and all this has led to the emergence of alternative locations and studios for films within Mumbai itself.
After redevelopment, the Film City will have a total of 31 studios with pre- and post-production facilities. It will also have 42 planned outdoor locations and eight village locations within its premises.
The developer in-charge is also expected to construct five-star and three-star hotels as well as budget accommodation and dormitories.