Film industry returns to the Capital after an interval

Identifying its new facilities for film shoot, film directors return to the capital city of Kerala, Trivandrum. Now, the state capital has become far advanced as a film location. Chitranjali studio is modernized, Prasad colour lab and Vismaya studio have come to life, KINFRA Film and Video Park has become the film industry’s much loved location. A lot of outdoor units have started functioning and a number of good hotels and shopping complexes have groomed the capital city, Trivandrum. These have made the film industry fall in love Trivandrum all over again.

Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala which was the then preferred location of the film industry, due to declining growth and lack of facilities had lost its importance years back. Now the capital city of Trivandrum is regaining its glory as a film location. More than half a dozen films have been shot recently in the capital. ‘The Thriller’, ‘Sakudubam Shyamala’, ‘Sarkar Colony’, ‘College Days’, ‘Kanyakumari Express’ are some films completed here. The Shaji Kailas-Mamootty film ‘August 15’ is being filmed in the capital city.

Years back, Trivandrum was the undeclared capital of Malayalam film industry. Centering on the facilities at Chitranjali, the Malayalam film industry flourished. With the passage of time, the capital could not keep up its modernity. There started a decline in the demand this film location.

Meantime, Kochi attracted the attention of the film industry with its ease of reach. Major and minor film actors started to settle in Kochi. Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Kunchako Boban, Dileep, Kavya Madhavan were some of them. As a shooting location, Kochi increased it production facilities. More studio complexes were started to be built. The capital city became a venue for serial production for the television.

Currently, the capital is the best location for the film industry. “We can reach any where by 10 minutes. There’re no traffic blocks”, says G. Suresh Kumar, the General Secretary of the Association of Producers. The capital is a location of beaches, waterways and villages and backwaters. Being the centre of the State politics it has the presence of the Secretariat and this provides originality to the ‘sets’ of popular political films.