Citing many scenic locations all over the region, local industrialists and theatre artists alike are demanding that the film city should be located in Agra or nearby, where filmmakers could make use of all these locations.
The city has numerous historic monuments with expansive gardens and picturesque locations, like the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Itmad-ud-Daulah, Sikandra, etc. (File photo: PTI)
As soon as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made the announcement of building a new film city in Uttar Pradesh, demands have started rising from the Braj region urging the CM to build it in Agra.
Citing many scenic locations all over the region, local industrialists and theatre artists alike are demanding that the film city should be located in Agra or nearby, where filmmakers could make use of all these locations.
Social activist and artist Amir Qureshi said that the Agra film city will enable filmmakers and artists from North India to build their career in film making without having to travel to Mumbai, which is already overcrowded, expensive and distant.
Amir said that a group of artists from Agra have written to Yogi Adityanath requesting him to build the film city in Agra. He said that Agra has very good air, rail and road connectivity to the rest of the country. The city has numerous historic monuments with expansive gardens and picturesque locations, like the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Itmad-ud-Daulah, Sikandra, etc.
Apart from that, there was Soor Sarovar, Shahjahan Park, Mariam’s Tomb, Mehtab Bagh, and numerous other locales which could be ideal for movie shoots. In the past, actor-director-producer Sanjay Khan had also expressed the desire to build a film production centre in Agra and had eve earmarked land for it, but he could not fulfil the conditions laid down by the then state government for it. He said that now CM Yogi Adityanath’s plans to build a film city in UP have awakened the possibility of it being located in Agra.
Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad Chairman Sami Aghai said that Agra has been the witness of numerous movie shoots in the past and a lot of local residents have made it big in Bollywood. If the film city is built in Agra, the talent of this city will stay here and showcase their talent instead of having to relocate to Mumbai.
Aghai said that there is a lot of land lying vacant in the Seengna village where this film city could be built. Soon there will be Metro trains running in the city. If the film city is built here, it will promote the Braj culture and generate livelihood for the locals.
