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The MGR Film City did not take off as expected and had accumulated losses of about Rs 14 crore.

CURTAINS DOWN: The MGR Film City at Taramani in Chennai whose gates have been closed. An MGR knowledge park has been planned in its place.

CHENNAI, Aug. 2

IT is curtains for the MGR Film City in Chennai from August 1. The State Government has handed over the land to the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) for developing a knowledge park, to be named as MGR Knowledge Park.

The film city was inaugurated in 1994 during the previous tenure of Ms Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister. It was set up on about 70 acres of land at a cost of Rs 24 crore in Taramani, an area where a number of research institutions and institutes of higher learning are located.

In the last couple of years, bits and pieces of the land belonging to the film city have been carved out of the film city and used for different purposes — some of it was given to the Tidel software park, and the remaining to TIDCO for various purposes, mainly for setting up research facilities in information technology and biotechnology.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, is setting up a research facility for information technology and communications in about 10 acres of land in the erstwhile film city.

According to official sources, the MGR Film City did not take off as expected and had accumulated losses of about Rs 14 crore.

The film city had indoor and outdoor shooting locations, fully air-conditioned floors, model village and urban area, temple, church, mosque, post office, police station, jail, court room, landscaped gardens in Italian, Japanese and Mughal styles — all of which were used to shoot films.

Of late, according to the sources, it was used more for television serial shoots and the number of film shootings had come down.

Among the Tamil movies shot at the film city were Avvai Shanmughi, Mudhalvan and Hey Ram.

Some episodes of game shows aired on two Tamil television channels were also shot here.

When it was established in August 1994, under the Information Department of the Tamil Nadu Government, it was widely believed that the film city would attract a large number of not only Tamil films, but also those in other languages.

The film city also served as a tourist spot, with visitors allowed entry on payment of money. The tourists could also watch film shootings in progress, from a distance, according to sources. Besides, there were also children's entertainment facilities.

The MGR Knowledge Park that is being developed by TIDCO will house research projects in the fields of information technology, biotechnology and telecommunications.

The closing down of the film city and the development of research facilities in IT and biotechnology in the land that was occupied by the film city will lead to faster development of these sectors in the State, according to sources.

Taramani is known as an institutional area and those wanting to set up research facilities will find it attractive to set up base in this area because of the high profile it enjoys and the communication and networking facilities available, according to official sources.

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