Bihar mulls a film city of its own

NDTV Reports :-

Bhojpuri films, an industry that is worth a little more than Rs 200 crore. It's an industry that caters to Bhojpuri speaking people not only in states like Bihar and UP but also in countries like Mauritious, Fiji, Netherlands, Nepal, Ghana and the West Indies.It is an industry that produces almost 75 films every year. It's an industry that operates out of Mumbai. But the recent past, however, has made this film churning machinery a little uncertain about it's future.It's perhaps one reason that it is now looking at a film city of its own in Bihar."The proposal was already made by Shatrughan Sinha to the Bihar government a year ago. But when the recent political scenario of Maharashtra changed, I decided to speak with Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar again. I am happy to say that 200 acres of land and Rs 200 crore have been cleared by the Bihar government for the project," said Manoj Tiwari, actor-producer, Bhojpuri cinema.Manoj Tiwari is one of the biggest Bhojpuri stars spearheading this project. So does this mean that Bhojpuri cinema is on its way out of Maharashtra? Sources say that a shift of base will directly affect employment opportunities to junior artists and technicians as almost 70 per cent of them are Maharashtrians."Bhojpuri cinema is not moving out of Mumbai. We are just looking at a safehouse whenever there is a situation that threatens to disrupt work. The film city in Bihar, however, is not just for Bhojpuri cinema. We would want to invite Bollywood, even Hollywood once it is operational," said Tiwari.It is said that once the formalities are complete, the film city will be ready sometime next year. And Tiwari says the artists and technicians from Maharashtra will always be welcome.