A magistrate has called a halt to the shooting of ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ at Cyanide Hills, Kolar Gold Fields.
N Srinivas, petitioner in the case against the film, contends its sets are affecting the environment.
Shanthi Bushan, advocate for producers Hombale Films, says the unit has obtained all permissions. The court will hear the case again on August 31.
Shooting for the film began in the first week of August. The sets took three months to erect, and the unit spent all of May, June and July working on them. After three weeks of shooting, the unit was set to wrap it all up in three days.
The order came a day before Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was to come down to shoot on August 28.
Hombale Films has roped in 1,200 people from the KGF area for the crowd scenes. They are served breakfast, lunch, tea, coffee and snacks, and paid Rs 500 as daily wages. They also get coverage under group insurance, a first for the Kannada film industry.
"We've taken Bharat Gold Mines Limited's (BGML) permission for the shooting by depositing Rs 5 lakh. We use about 20 tankers of water every day so that dust is not generated. We haven't violated any guidelines," says Gagan, unit manager.
He says the team planted thousands of saplings while shooting for KGF Chapter 1, and has promised to pay a penalty to BGML for the 50 trees it had to cut down (????double check??? Are they saying they cut down 50 trees???).
People called in for the crowds go to Bengaluru in search of menial jobs. The film gave them a chance to stay back in their hometown while the shooting was in progress.
“Nobody was bothered about us when the mines were shut down. Now someone comes along and talks about environmental pollution,” a member of the crew says.
No shooting took place atop the hills where the saplings have been planted, a member of the unit told Showtime.
The hills belong to the government-run BGML, and the Karnataka forest department has planted thousands of saplings there.
Many films have been shot atop the jills. Hombale Films has not violated any terms and conditions, according to BGML.
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Gold rush
KGF is the site of a now defunct network of gold mines. Cyanide Hills is where gold ore was dumped. It attracts movie makers for its surrealist landscape. Popular Tamil song Manmatha Rasaa from Thiruda Thirudi ( 2003) was shot here.
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Big grosser
Prashanth Neel's KGF: Chapter 1 (December 21, 2018) is the highest-grossing Kannada film of all time. It was also dubbed and released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.
A day before its release, the 10th ACMM Court, Bengaluru, ordered a stay. A petition by Venkatesh G and S Anand contended it was based on the real-life story of Thangam, a notorious rowdy from KGF, and they had acquired the rights to it from Tangam’s wife.
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Second battle
KGF had faced a legal battle just a day before the release of Chapter 1.
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This and Dutt
Sanjay Dutt is appearing in the role of Aheera, said to resemble Thanos in Avengers. The sequel is expected to hit screens in the summer of 2021.
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History of the region
Kolar Gold Fields is a mining region in southern Karnataka, with a history dating back to the second century. Several dynasties, starting with the Gangas, ruled over it. For about 100 years, till 2001, gold mining was the main activity here. Families of erstwhile miners live in the town to this day, with few employment opportunities.