Om Puri

Have a film to shoot? Drive down to Chandrakona. This sleepy village in West Midnapore — a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Calcutta — is the address for what is being touted as Bengal’s first “state-of-the-art film city”.

Prayag Film City, a Rs 570-crore project with a five-year deadline for completion, is an initiative of the Prayag Group, which has business interests in real estate, fertilisers and fisheries.

Spread over 2,300 acres, the film city will apparently boast 50 set locations, 60 floors, a digital colour laboratory, facilities for pre- and post-production work, and a film institute.

“We are venturing into entertainment because it is profitable. Our state-of-the-art film city will be better than the Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad. Bengali films apart, Bhojpuri and Assamese films will also be shot here,” claimed Prayag Group owner Basudeb Bagchi.

Work is already on to build an artificial sea, an airport with an aeroplane, a helipad, railway station with bogies, golf course, swimming pool, tree-house, restaurants, cottages and manicured parks.

“The intention is good. Let’s wait and see how far it goes. The Bengali film industry will greatly benefit if the film city happens,” said Bollywood actor Om Puri, who along with singer Alka Yagnik and a team of Tollywood actors drove down to Chandrakona on Thursday for laying the foundation stone.

“The film city will be a dream come true for us. We won’t have to pack our bags for Hyderabad anymore,” said actor Rudranil Ghosh, who was part of the Tolly team.