The privatisation chariot rolls on — from Star theatre to Technicians Studio to Rupayan, or at least a part of it.

The state government has leased out the sound-recording theatre of the loss-making, out-of-work post-production centre in Salt Lake to be upgraded and run by a private firm.

This comes at a time when the government is engaged in a tug-of-war over the loss-making Technicians Studio that is set to pass into private hands, “to modernise and operate”.

Rupayan’s managing director Pradip Ray told Metro on Thursday that the sound studio had gone to the highest bidder, Durgapur-based Chowdhury Enterprise, which has committed to pay Rupayan Rs 2.12 lakh a month. The company is pumping in “more than Rs 3 crore” to instal digital sound recording machinery, Avid and Telecine.

Rupayan, run by the West Bengal Film Development Corporation, was making an annual loss of Rs 1 crore. “Our sound equipment has become dated and we didn’t have the funds to instal new machinery. So, the decision to lease it out to a private company,” reasoned Ray. Chowdhury Enterprise had entered into an agreement with Rupayan in November 2005. “The bank papers have just been cleared. The first phase of upgrade should be complete by September 20,” said Ray.

The bid to resuscitate Rupayan with private funds comes when the industry had all but written it off. But some in the film industry feel this is too little too late. “Why didn’t the government do it for so long?” demanded film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta. “The labs in Chennai and Hyderabad maintain very high standards and I wouldn’t want to go back to Rupayan. Besides, the sound negatives of two of my films, Duratwa and Neem Annapurna, were damaged at Rupayan, while the final print of Phera had to be redone at Prasad Labs in Chennai.”

Back at Technicians, the artistes and technicians have a date with the chief minister “between September 16 and 20”. “Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will be coming to Technicians to explain the government’s position on privatisation and listen to our demands,” said Pronab Chowdhury, secretary of Cinetel Trust, after a meeting on Thursday.