| Headline: An entertainment powerhouse Source: Euromoney Date: September 2000 more on south Asia more from Euromoney September 2000 Driving through the imposing gates of Film City on the outskirts of Hyderabad is like stepping into another world. The sprawling 2,000 acre expanse boasts Japanese and Moghul gardens, Hindu temples, a fort, a railway station, an airport, little towns and villages. A closer look reveals the buildings are a facade made of plaster of Paris and the blooming gardens are the backdrop for the popular song sequences in Indian movies. Built by Ramoji Rao, a leading south Indian movie and television tycoon, Film City offers outdoor locales, 40 studio floors, a movie prop workshop, extras and technicians, sophisticated editing and sound-recording facilities and even an earth station that beams television programmes directly to satellites. Film City pitches India as a low-cost producer for the global movie and television industry. And it has already attracted a few American producers away from Hollywood. “Entertainment is perhaps the only business in which India is a global player in terms of volumes,” says Amit Khanna, head of Reliance Entertainment. Over 700 movies are made in India each year, making it the biggest movie-making country in the world. |