Bengaluru: After a war of words between the sitting Chief Minister and the man who occuped the hot seat before hime, former CM and Cordination Committee Chairman Siddaramaiah has demanded answers of H.D. Kumaraswamy. The current CM has been asked to account for the moving of 'film city' from Mysuru to Ramanagara, as announced in the budget. Odd, for it was just like Mr Siddaramaiah had done himself, in his budget. Karnataka's heritage city has always been the cynosure of eyes in the film industry, why then, now demands Mr Siddaramaiah, should a film city be set up in Ramanagara?
Glittery and star-spangled, the heyday of the film industry in Mysuru brought a bevy of greats to the heritage city. It began with the setting up of Premier Studio by M.N. Basavarajaiah, which drew the attention of cinema industry across the country. These included actors from across the Kannada, Tamil, Telegu and Bollywood industries, including Dr Raj Kumar, J Jayalalithaa and her mother, Sandhya, N.T. Rama Rao, K.S. Ashwath, Rajnikanth, M.H. Ambareesh and Bollywood star Sanjay Khan. All of them have shot on diferent floors of the legendary Premier Studio, where over 1200 films have been made.
M.B. Nagaraj, son of the late Basavarajaiah, spoke to Deccan Chronicle in the backdrop of the controversy, as Mr Siddaramaiah continues to bat for setting up the film city in Mysuru. His father, who would go on to found Premier studio, ran a fertiliser and insurance business in Chennai. Later, he decided to settle down in Mysuru and set up a business there. He wanted very much to acquire the 10-acre Chittaranjan Mahal, which belonged to Princess Leelavathi.
Before his arrival, however, one Mr Chettiar from Coimbatore had set up Mysore Movie Town, a small film studio that incurred losses. Princess Leelavathi agreed to the deal on one condition: Mr Chettiar's old debt of Rs 5000 should be cleared by Basavarajaiah to avoid legal hassles. As a gesture of gratitude, Mr Chettiar even gifted them the studio's film equipment.
The deal was done and still, Mr Basavarajaiah hadn't thrown his studio open. That's when he met an astrologer who told him that he would be in show business. A short while later, a Tamil director ws invited to Mysuru to discuss the idea of opening the studio with the equipment given by Mr Chettiar. Two years after he bought the place, on October 6, 1954, Premier Studio was declared open. Mr Basavarajaiah himself decided to invest in a film, Stree Ratna, starring K.S. Ashwath and Sandhya, mother of former CM and actress Jayalalithaa. The film was a huge success. The one that followed, however, Chintamani, the story of a sex worker, flopped.
At the time, Navajyothi Studio in Saraswathipuram was their biggest competition. Its closure proved a blessing for Basavarajaiah, for he was now able to rent out his space for movies of all languages. "It brought my father a handsome income," says Nagaraj. Although stars strolled in and out of the studio, Basavarajaiah kept his distance; he had determined early on that business was his only motto.
The late 70s brought technological leaps in the film industry, leaps that would spell the end of the film studio era.
Producers and directors preferred shooting outdoors, instead of spending huge money on building sets. The business had hit rock bottom, for a while, atleast. In 1980, televisions had a place in every home and T.V. serials took the public by storm. A number of serial producers and directors took the studio out on rent for a couple of years, using their space to create mor or less permanent sets. Films were replaced by serials.
Things changed, dramatically for the worse, when Bollywood star Sanjay Khan chose Premier Studio as the venue to shoot his upcoming serial, The Sword of Tipu Sultan. A major fire broke out, however, claiming several lives and most of the studio. "We still have two floors in the studio," Nagraj remarked. But it was the end of the line. Mysuru may no longer be the most sought-after venue for filmmakers but it bears a rich legacy. Is Mr Siddaramaiah entirely in the wrong, then, for asking why the film city is being moved to Ramanagara?
