Stop #Boycott Bollywood spin, Sunil Shetty tells CM
MUMBAI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to woo Bollywood during a road show in Mumbai to attract investments to his state.
MUMBAI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to woo Bollywood during a roadshow in Mumbai to attract investment to his state. A conversation session with him at the Taj on Thursday evening was attended by over 40 film and television personalities, including Subhash Goi, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Boney Kapoor, Sonu Nigam, Madhur Bhandarkar and Jackie Shroff.
Yogi highlighted UP’s attractions, including winning the “Most Film Friendly State” award at the 64th and 68th National Film Awards. “We have beautiful locations and the state’s contribution to the arts sector is significant. We are building international airports, four-lane highways and metro lines. We are giving 50 per cent subsidy to web series and 25 per cent subsidy to studio labs,” he said, adding that the government is building a 1,000-acre Film City. He invited Bollywood to host.
This did not go down well with a section of stakeholders in the industry. Legendary actor-producer Sunail Shetty took to social media to express his disdain for the Hindi film industry by boycotting Bollywood. “It has to stop, and it will stop if you are in the lead,” he told Yogi. “This is a stigma for us and it is very important to remove it. We will urge you to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to correct this anti-Bollywood sentiment.
Shetty declared that 99 percent of the people in Bollywood are good. “We don’t do drugs, it’s not like we do bad things all day long,” he said with a sarcastic joke. “There are bad apples in every sphere, but that doesn’t make everyone a bad apple.”
Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi said that U.P. The government should work in two areas-security and facilities. “I have been shooting in UP since 2000 and most of my projects are historical,” he said. “Red-jumping and crowd control are the main problems we face. If we want to shoot with a drone in the Ganga, we are denied permission saying it is the PM’s constituency. Why is there a problem in giving permission when the PM is not in the constituency? If red-tapism ends, more people will shoot in UP.” will come
A film tycoon who was there made an interesting point – despite being the largest Hindi speaking state in the country, UP accounts for only six percent of the total film festival revenue in India.
Responding to concerns raised about security, Yogi said the crime rate in the state has come down drastically and people from Mumbai are not afraid to visit Azamgar like before. “UP has become a safe state for any industry or sector, including the film industry,” he said. “We have improved road and air connectivity – nine airports are already operational and 10 are under construction. We have transformed the state, crime and riots have no place here. People only talk about development. We want to use your expertise and your suggestions are welcome.
Yogi said the upcoming Film City in UP has been designed keeping in mind the technological advancement and needs of the next 50 to 100 years. “Film City is close to the upcoming airport at Jeewar (said to be Asia’s largest airport) and is a 45-minute drive from historic Mathura-Brindawan,” he said. “We have many historical and religious locations to shoot movies and TV shows.”
Shiv Sena (UPD) MP Sanjay Rawat objected to Yogi’s road show. We have no objection if he comes to invite industrialists for the development of his state, he said. “But if he has come to take away projects and industrial investment from Maharashtra, we strongly oppose it. What is the need for UP CM to hold a road show in Mumbai to invest in UP?
Rawat said that no matter how much UP tries to take Bollywood away from Mumbai, it will not succeed. “Do you think Amitabh Bachchan or Madhuri Dixit or any other actor would want to go and settle in Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Faridabad?” He questioned.
