Senior actor and Telugu Desam Party legislator from Hindupur assembly constituency Nandamuri Balakrishna is all set to establish a huge film studio in Telangana, supposedly on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
According to sources, Balakrishna had applied to the Telangana government for a few hundreds of acres of land in and around Hyderabad at reasonable price for establishment of the studio.
Balakrishna’s brother-in-law and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is understood to have made a request to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy on the land allotment. Needless to say, Revanth Reddy was once a protégé of Naidu in the politics.
Sources said the proposal made with the chief commissioner of land administration of the revenue department has now reached the chief secretary. Since the land allotment is in the hands of the state cabinet, the proposal would be placed before it.
“In all probability, the proposal for allotment of land to the Balakrishna Cine Studios will be approved in the state cabinet at its meeting on Saturday. The details of how much land will be allocated and at what price will be known only after the cabinet approval,” sources said.
In fact, Balakrishna’s father and legendary actor N T Rama Rao had established Ramakrishna Cine Studios in the heart of Hyderabad in early ‘70s, which produced several hit films like Dana Veera Sura Karna. The studio, which was originally at Musheerabad, was later shifted to Nacharam.
However, after NTR’s death, the studio was wound up. While the premises at Musheerabad was converted into a commercial complex, the Nacharam studios was converted into a function hall.
In 2018, when Chandrababu Naidu was in power in Andhra Pradesh, Balakrishna contemplated establishment of a film studio in Visakhapatnam, following the then government’s announcement of incentives to the film industry for shifting to Andhra Pradesh.
But the proposal did not take off, following the change of government in 2019 and the incumbent Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy did not take any initiative in promoting the film industry in Andhra Pradesh.
