Recently well-known stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava was appointed as the Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council and as soon as he assumed office, he immediately got down to work.
Says Raju, “When I joined office, the top most agenda on my mind was to put forth this idea to construct a Film City on the lines of Mumbai and Hyderabad in Varansai (UP) to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, which was a long cherished dream of mine. Though in past before me, some other people had also tried to pursue this idea, but due to reasons unknown to me, this idea never materialized! So in my very first meeting with CM Yogi, I put forth this proposal to him. I told him that if a state of the art Film City is constructed on a grand scale in UP itself then there will be no need for our youths and talented artists to go to Mumbai in search of work and face long struggle & hardships to make it in films. At the same time, we should make our film policies so easy , simple & film production friendly for film- makers that maximum films are shot here. Apart from that the Film City will also turn into a major tourist attraction. All these measures will also provide a fillip to employment in state resulting in considerable generation of revenue for the state. And today I am very happy to say that CM Yogi not only immediately agreed and gave his consent but also allotted a 106 acre prime land in Varanasi for the purpose.
“It will be a the most modern Film City in India, equipped with beautiful locations and all other state of the art facilities. And once a film maker enters it, there will be no need for him to venture outside as whatever he needs will be available within the premises itself.”
Raju is also putting things in order in his department. Raju intends to make the work of the film makers , who shoot in UP, a cakewalk for them.
“ Everything will be very much transparent, easy and simple. There will be one window clearance for everything. We will see to it that a film maker doesn’t run from pillar to post to get what he needs, all permissions and locations which he requires will be available to him in no time and without any hurdle. Apart from that, I will always be accessible to them to sort out any problem if they face any. I myself am from this industry, I understand what a film-maker goes through during the making of a film. I am here to make their work easy, not complicated. Apart from that I know most of the film people personally, so I am sure I will be able to do justice with them and my work.”
