Wish for Ipoh to emulate Mumbai as the center of the film industry

By Aida Aziz
Photo: Social media

IPOH: The recent selection of Ipoh as a filming location by directors and actors from South India, is realizing the desire to make this city a center of the film industry like Mumbai.

The good news certainly received a positive response from Ipoh Mayor, Datuk Rumaizi Baharin who described it as the first step for Ipoh to become an artistic and creative city.

“We very much welcome their (South Indian filmmakers) presence here, as since last year we really wished to be  the center of the film industry in Malaysia.

“When we negotiated with agents, actors from Bollywood were less interested in coming here. But what came here was Kollywood, which is the Tamil film industry from South India.

“But I think that is good enough for the market here, because through my understanding, in South India the population reaches 200 to 300 million people.

“They have been in this state for a month and are currently filming around Ipoh, many interesting locations that are the focus, especially tourist hotspots,” he said.

He said this while commenting on the presence of famous South Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi for the shooting of his latest film in the state.

It is understood that the production crew of around 90 people from India will undergo filming for a month in this state.

He added that his party through the Ipoh City Council (MBI) has always supported and provided appropriate cooperation to make the filming of the film here a success.

“It is understood that a lot of filming was done around the city of Ipoh, including  Kampung Kacang Puteh in Buntong and were able to indirectly promote Kacang Puteh products there,” he added.

Last year, the media reported that Ipoh had great potential to become an artistic and creative city, especially as a center for film companies like Mumbai, India.

The target and hope was voiced by Rumaizi who believes that this city can be a focal point in the creative arts like Bollywood.