Team Mamata Banerjee took the first step towards revamp of the Tollygunge studios on Sunday morning with special secretary (information and cultural affairs) Nandini Chakraborty inspecting three film hubs. Showing the bureaucrat around was Team Tollywood — actors Prosenjit, Dipankar De and Ranjit Mallick, director Haranath Chakraborty and Shrikant Mohta of Shree Venkatesh Films. Metro accompanied the group.

Technicians’ 1

(Top) Tollywood representatives show Nandini Chakraborty around and the derelict canteen (below).

Where: On Baburam Ghosh Road in Tollygunge.

What they saw: Water leaks through the roof over floor No. 3. The bigger floor No. 2 also faces the same problem.

Chakraborty described the 12 make-up rooms as “shabby” the moment she saw them. The stench coming from the two general toilets drew a frown from her. “Please do not step inside madam, you may faint,” said Haranath.

Dipankar De pointed to some rooms and said some directors have been occupying them for years. “Do they pay rent?” asked Chakraborty. “Yes, Rs 900 per month,” answered Debananda Sengupta, the administrative in-charge of Technicians’ 1 and 2. “Ask them to vacate the rooms,” the special secretary ordered.

She also saw the makeshift godowns erected by production houses to store materials that are used while building sets. “We want space to be allotted to technicians so that they do not build makeshift godowns everywhere,” said Haranath.

After walking around for about 30 minutes, Chakraborty was taken to the small room at the back of the studio that serves as the Artistes’ Forum office.

“Here, too, water leaks through the roof,” said Chakraborty and urged administrators to draw up a to-do list.

What was proposed: “Let’s focus on the short-term plan first. We need guidance from trained people involved in the construction of film cities. We are town planners not film city planners,” Chakraborty said before announcing that the roofs of the three studio floors and Artistes’ Forum office will be “treated” immediately.

She also announced construction of roads inside the studio and revamp of the 12 make-up rooms and attached toilets, including installation of air-conditioners.

Two general toilets and a canteen will also come up.

What they didn’t see: Metro had found liquor bottles strewn across the premises on Friday. The derelict canteen at one end of the studio was littered with used plastic packets and stray dogs were roaming around. The vendor making tea on a mud oven outside the make-up rooms was also missing on Sunday.

Radha Films Studio

Chakraborty before a mirror that Uttam Kumar used. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Where: On the road opposite the Tollygunge Club main gate.

What they saw: A studio floor and a projection room that are being constructed. Chakraborty also visited some make-up rooms, the Uttam Kumar and Satyajit Ray archives and two vaults where negatives of Ray’s films are preserved.

What was proposed: Construction of a third archive where shooting equipment that are no longer used will be displayed.

“Do people visit the studio?” Chakraborty asked, before starting to leaf through the visitors’ book, whose empty pages provided her the answer. “There should be more awareness about this studio, more people should visit it,” she said.

What they didn’t see: That the stench from the MR Bangur Hospital morgue, which adjoins the studio, often hangs over the premises. There is no drinking water facility in the studio. Besides, nobody brought to her notice the fact that the incomplete floor is being constructed for the past five years!

Technicians’ 2

(Top) The team looks at the leaking ceiling and a broken window (below)

Where: On Prince Anwar Shah Road.

What they saw: The lone floor is in fairly good condition but heaps of garbage lay dumped in the surrounding area.

“The second floor of the studio was demolished during the construction of the Lake Gardens flyover,” said Ranjit Mallick.

The special secretary inspected the two-storey office-cum-make-up rooms right at the entrance. “There should be more space utilisation. There are lots of unused spaces inside the studio,” said Shrikant Mohta.

What was proposed: Construction of a floor near the entrance plus a three-storey building that will house a studio office and AC make-up rooms.

What they didn’t see: Windows on the shooting floor were broken. The two toilets were in a sorry state and there was no drinking water facility.

After the two-and-a-half-hour tour, Chakraborty said she would like to meet the Tollywood team at Radha Films Studio on Tuesday evening to discuss the revamp in detail.