Plans are already afoot to start construction work by next week and the project is expected to be completed by 2010. With active support from the local farmers, the Film City complex will concentrate more on working with 16mm and 35mm films. Aside from these, it will introduce a film institute, digital colour laboratory and a holiday resort to unwind under the same roof. To add to the momentous occasion, there was Hindi film thespian Om Puri in flesh and blood to give the requisite moral boost to move the project ahead.
The actor was honoured to be in West Bengal and that too, for the opening of a new Film City here, the first of its kind. Aside from providing amenities to Tollywood’s technicians and artistes, it will be of great assistance to other film industries in India such as Orrisa, Bihar and Assam. As part of the afforestation project, The Prayag Group will plant one lakh and thirty thousand trees in the next five years in their contribution to balance the ecology. The public relations head of the group told mediapersons that West Bengal is moving forward steadily on the path of industrialisation in which Prayag also wants to participate actively.
This is planned as an ideal Film City where a filmmaker may discover for himself the opportunity to work under ideal conditions with a well -maintained studio, efficient technicians and typical shooting spots not yet available in Hyderabad Ramoji Film City. But the eastern region finds little advantage owing to the distance factor. In this context, Prayag’s efforts to evolve a sophisticated Film City is laudable taking into account the seedy conditions of film studios in Tollygunge, while other film studios in and around Kolkata have long closed down.
It was therefore necessary to develop a Film City in this region to cater to the needs of film makers for this purpose. Prayag Film City will offer pre-production and post-production resources along with 500 set locations. There will be many gardens, authentic sets, about 50 studio floors and a digital film facility. This includes support systems and outdoor location high-tech laboratories. The Film City’s infrastructure will also incorporate custom- designed locations, set constructions, properties, costumes, shooting stages, cameras equipments, digital post-production, SFX as well as film processing.
Prayag Film City will have arrangement to produce twenty international films and forty Indian films simultaneously. It will be designed in such a manner that it will attract not only filmmakers of the country but also producers from abroad. Tourism will be given top priority, so that the studio attracts over a million tourists bringing in more revenue to the state ex-chequer. Also in the pipeline is a 4-star Hotel at the entrance of the Film City, paving the way to providing honeymoon packages and a banquet hall for corporate retreats and conventions.