Kerala Culture Minister A K Balan on Monday said his government plans to develop Chitranjali studio in Thiruvananthapuram into a film city and sought a financial aid of Rs 20 crore from the Centre.
"The studio has got 80 acres of land in Thiruvananthapuram and we propose to develop it into a film city. Our plan is to help the financially weak filmmakers and facilitate them with cost-effective infrastructure inside the Chitranjali campus," Balan said after meeting Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi.
Chitranjali studio was established in the 1980s under the Kerala State Film Development Corporation.
The state has also requested the Centre to provide an assistance of Rs 10 crore to set up a Regional Film Archives, under Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, which will include a film museum, library, preview theatre and an administrative block.
"The prints of old movies in Malayalam are not archived properly. It needs to be preserved properly for future references. We have already identified two acres of land at KINFRA park for this purpose," the minister said.
Balan, who was in Delhi to attend the Central Committee meeting of the CPI(M), expressed hope that the proposed North-South Economic Corridor will benefit the state.