The Tamil Nadu budget, which was presented on Monday, February 19, announced that Rs 500 crore has been alloted to build a film city in Chennai. The film city is expected to be constructed over 150 acres of land and will include facilities for post production and virtual production. The construction of the film city in Poonamallee was announced earlier in January by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin during the centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
The request was first made by actor Kamal Haasan at the same event. According to The Hindu, MK Stalin said that the film city will have a five star hotel, LED wall, animation and visual effects studios, production and post-production facilities. Apart from that, the Chief Minister also said that four floors will be added to the MGR Film City at a cost of Rs 25 crore.
This is the second film city that will be built in the city. MGR Film City, named after former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, is located in Taramani and is a popular tourist site. The Film City, which was established in 1994 over 70 acres, is a popular tourist destination and has several indoor and outdoor shooting locations, and replicas of villages, courtrooms, sprawling gardens, among others. A knowledge park was also added recently to the Film City.