Devendra Fadnavis And Akshay Kumar Talk About Revamping Mumbai Film City, And How To Eat A Santra

Do you know that you can eat an orange like a mango? Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis likes to have the fruit with a sprinkle of salt.

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Read Time: 4 mins

Mumbai is the entertainment capital of India, and rightly so. Indian actors across Hindi cinema and regional movies call it their home. Not to mention television actors who keep the economy afloat with not just soap operas but also OTT shows. But is it enough? Actor Akshay Kumar believes that it is time to transform iconic Film City in Mumbai, which serves as the hub for Bollywood film and television production.

During his conversation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, the actor urged him to sanction and lead the makeover for the film city, also known as Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, in suburban Goregaon. Established by the state government in 1977, over 500 acres, it is a part of Mumbai that hardly ever sleeps. At the 25th edition of FICCI Frames, Akshay Kumar was moderating a conversation with the chief minister and touched upon important subjects like 'what steps can the government take to popularise Marathi cinema' and his favourite Hindi films.

While the actor is happy with the current infrastructure, he thinks that Film City can benefit from a spruce-up project. Replying to his request, Chief Minister Fadnavis said, "I regret that during my tenure between 2014 and 2019, it was my wish to develop the Film City into a vibrant international ecosystem. We did a lot of planning, designing, and also spoke to a lot of people from the film fraternity, but we couldn't execute it due to various reasons. There are two or three projects that I couldn't execute, and this is one of them."

The minister confessed that he wanted to transform the current ecosystem into a world-class facility. He added, "Filmmaking is changing a lot due to VFX. We've seen massive changes in terms of post-production and editing, and we have seen how locations are recreated anywhere with the help of green screen. We've to make an ecosystem for all this. Within a year, we will start the transformation, and in four years, we will transform it."

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Want To Promote Marathi Cinema Via Gen Zs

Chief Minister Fadnavis said that old films were shot in the Film City, but today, directors and producers are looking for other shooting locations. However, he promised Kumar that the revamping will begin within a year. While answering the actor's query regarding the promotion of Marathi cinema, the chief minister added that he would try his best to grab the attention of the Gen Z audience.

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He added, "Marathi films are powerful because of Marathi theatre, which has been so innovative. The Marathi-speaking audience is vibrant, and the Marathi plays often run housefull, and we see all of that reflected in Marathi films. For instance, movies like 'Natsamrat', 'Dashavatar', and even Gen Z are liking all of these (films), and they are connected to Marathi films.

This is not the first time that Kumar has interviewed a politician. In 2019, he interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the general elections, and he was trolled for asking how he likes to eat mangoes. He added that despite the trolling, he would not change. He knew that Chief Minister Fadnavis had a soft spot for oranges (santra). He asked, "Do you like to peel them or enjoy orange juice?"

To this, the minister replied that he enjoys cutting the fruit in half, sprinkling salt all over it, and enjoying it like one savours a mango.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' Favourite Hindi Film Is Anil Kapoor's Nayak

After oranges, the next point of conversation between Akshay Kumar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was his favourite Hindi film. Can you guess it? The minister likes Anil Kapoor-starrer 'Nayak: The Real Hero' (2001). He said, "Wherever I go, people tell me to work like Anil Kapoor did in the film. They tell me how much work he did in just one day as a Chief Minister and changed the world." He even shared that he once met the actor and asked him why he made such a film that now makes ministers feel incompetent.

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Carrying forward the conversation, the minister suggested that a film should be made on cyber crimes because of the growing instances, one of which was recently shared by Akshay Kumar himself. Minister Fadnavis added, "There has been a rise in digital crime, deep fakes, and financial crime is heinous, and the film industry has not showcased this in a way. Films are the best way of communicating, and they've the power, and they should focus on digital war."
 

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