MGR film city turns into a telly town

Renting a private studio for a video shoot might cost a minimum of Rs 10,000 per day in most places, but here premium sites are available for Rs 2,000.

The promise of more regional channels joining the satelite bandwagon in coming months has also improved the film city’s prospects.

In a chat with The Indian Express, MGR Film City chairman AVM Kumaran acknowledged that a slump had set in a couple of years ago but attributed it various problems faced by the entire local film industry.

“However the situation today is much different. Satellite channels have started shooting most of their programmes here because of the good facilities we have for them,” he said.

On a monthly average, the film city earns more than Rs 4 lakh by renting out locations for shooting and up to Rs 5.5 lakh through collections from the sight-seeing public. During summer vacations, movie buffs account for more than Rs 7 lakh by way of entrance fee collections. Incidentally, MGR Film City is the only Government managed film facility that is open to the public for sight-seeing. Other film cities in Mumbai and Kochi do not grant such facilities.

The prominent features of the film city here include Asia’s largest air-conditioned floors, which have been taken up by production companies to shoot TV programmes. Popular TV shows including Sun TV’s `Thillana Thillana‘ are shot here.

Television software companies that are identified as `regulars’ at the complex include Telephoto Films of Suresh Menon, Abhavanan’s production team of `Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi’ and Kutty Padmini’s South African Television Limited.