Chasing Bollywood dreams: How Noida’s Film City became a media hub

When it comes to holding on to one’s Bollywood dream, Uttar Pradesh sets quite an example. Since 1988, when a film city was founded in the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida), the state has been trying to establish itself as a destination for film production – but with little luck.

After media houses started replacing film production houses in Noida Film City, in 2015, then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party tried to set up two more film cities along the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. Neither have seen the light of day. Earlier this year, chief minister Adityanath’s government approved a proposal to set up “the biggest film city”, this time in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, or YEIDA, area.

Meanwhile, 33 years later, the original Noida Film City has transformed into a media hub.

According to the website of the Film Facilitation Office, which comes under the ministry of information and broadcasting, Noida Film City is spread over 100 acres (75 acres outdoor; 25 acres indoor), with 16 studios and 350 channels’ offices on its premises.

Among the media outfits currently operating out of Noida Film City are Republic TV, ABP Network, Network 18, India Today, Dish TV, Times Now and ET Now, Zee Media, Dainik Bhaskar and Pragya Channel. None of them are among the original allottees of the plots. The 21 plots in Noida Film City have a turnover of over Rs 28 crore per annum.

When Noida Film City was first set up in Sector 16-A in 1988, prime real estate was given at institutional rates, which are much lower than market rates. In 1986, industrial land in Noida was officially priced at Rs 180 per square metre and sold in the market at Rs 400 per sqm.

But in Noida Film City, the original allottees got land at concessional rates of Rs 200 per sqm. Some of Indian cinema’s biggest names bought plots in the old film city, like director and producer Yash Chopra’s Aditya Films Pvt. Ltd; producer Boney Kapoor’s Narsimha Enterprises; and film and music producer Gulshan Kumar’s Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd.

The value of the real estate has appreciated despite the film city not achieving its original intention of becoming a film production hub. Today, the estimated market value of industrial land in Noida Film City is Rs 4,032 per square feet or Rs 43,384.32 per sqm.

One of the old-timers of Noida Film City is Asian Academy of Film and Television, founded in 1993 by Sandeep Marwah, who is also the institute’s president. In an interview to a news outlet, Marwah said the “mission” behind Noida Film City was to “promote the culture of art and films in the region”. In the 1990s, Noida Film City saw television serials being shot on its premises and from the early 2000s, media houses entered the scene.

According to a source familiar with Noida Authority’s procedures in the late 1980s, to qualify for land allotment in Noida Film City, a company had to meet three criteria. The company must work in films; have a turnover of about Rs 200-300 crore in a financial year; and be established for about 10 years.

According to documents accessed by Newslaundry from Noida Authority, which is in charge of the infrastructure in the city, plots in the old film city were originally allotted to 12 film production houses:

Of these original allottees, only Gulshan Kumar’s Super Cassettes Industries Pvt Ltd, and Sandeep Marwah’s Marwah Electronics & Computers remain in Noida Film City. Since the early 2000s, the original allottees have been selling their plots of land and often, the new owners are media houses. The current occupants of the old film city plots do not meet the original criteria that allottees needed to fulfill.

Plot No. FC 9, with an area of 6,320.56 square metres was allotted to Boney Kapoor’s Narsimha Enterprises on April 15, 1988. On July 14, 2003, a transfer cum sale deed states the plot was sold to Zee Telefilms.

Plot No. FC 8, spread over 12,000 square metres, was allotted to Yash Chopra’s Aditya Films Pvt Ltd on March 26, 1988. Yash Raj films were shot here, apart from in-house TV serials, sequences for feature films, TV serial Bhawar, and Kamal Haasan’s feature film Abhay.

As per the documents, upon being allotted the plot, Aditya Films stated: “Our studio is being used only for the purpose for which it was originally allotted to us and shall continue to be used for various activities pertaining to production of TV serials, telefilms and feature films only."

But on March 7, 2005, the plot was transferred to the TV Today Network, a subsidiary of Living Media India Pvt Ltd. In 2013, TV Today Network rented a portion of the plot to Living Media and Mail Today Newspapers Pvt Ltd, another subsidiary of Living Media.

According to the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority's terms and conditions pertaining to renting permission, "renting permission in case of institutional premises would be given for a period of 10 years irrespective of the time period requested for." The renting charges were priced at Rs 150 per square metre.

In 2005, the transfer charges were applicable at Rs 440 per square metre. Plot No. FC 8, spread over 12,000 square metres, amounted to a total of Rs 52,80,000.

The transfer memorandum between Aditya Films Pvt Ltd and the TV Today Network, states that the transferee, TV Today Network in this case, "shall be running the project of Production, Editing, Studios, Broadcasting, Telecasting, Relaying, Transmitting, Programming and distribution of all multimedia activities".

According to the possession certificate accessed by Newslaundry, plot No. FC 6 – 7,770 square metres – was originally allotted to Ramesh Prasad’s Prasad Productions on March 21, 1988. On December 21, 2006, the plot was transferred to the Times Group, in which Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited owns a majority stake.

Between 2005 and 2008, Jagran TV Pvt Ltd leased out plot No. FC 7 (8,047.85 square metres), which was initially allotted to Romesh Films Pvt Ltd on March 30,1988. On June 7, 2021, rent permission was granted to M/s M-Monks Digital Media Pvt Ltd.

DB Corp Ltd, or the Dainik Bhaskar Group, owns plots FC 10 and FC 11. Plot no. FC 10, with an area of 1,996.70 square metres, was originally allotted to Tutu Sharma’s Padmini Films Pvt Ltd on April 6, 1988. On January 17, 2008, New Delhi Television (NDTV) requested the transfer of FC 10. The documents confirmed that with effect from March 10, 2009, the plot was deemed functional. However, on October 8, 2013, DB Group bought the plot from Padmini Films.

DB Group also bought plot no. FC 11 – spread over 1,074.90 square metres – from Vinod Pandey’s Cine Images Entertainments Pvt Ltd on April 1, 2015. On June 24, 2002, Brahma Studio, owned by M/s Cine Images Entertainments Pvt Ltd, applied to sub-let a portion of the studio to television serial production company Usha Kiran ETV. However, Newslaundry could not independently verify if this request was approved.

Plot No. FC 5, with an area of 8,000 square metres, was allotted to A Puran Chandra Rao’s Laxmi Production on April 16, 1988. At present, Republic TV has its offices on this plot.

Plot No. FC 12, spread over 7,950 square metres was originally allotted to Eagle Films and is now owned by the ABP Network and Alpha IT & Media Projects LLP.

Newslaundry has emailed a detailed questionnaire to Noida Authority’s chief executive officer Ritu Maheshwari, asking if the original allottees were authorised to sell their plots and if any action has been initiated against anyone for an unauthorised transfer. This report will be updated if we receive a response.

Sandeep Marwah of AAFT has argued that Noida Film City’s transformation into a media hub should be seen as a sign of success, rather than a failure to attract film production to UP. “The overall mission of making a film city is completed as it is promoting films and media houses,” Marwah said in an interview to TenNews.in.

Meanwhile, with construction for “the biggest film city” set to begin in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in January 2022, the UP government continues to chase its Bollywood dreams.