City set to dazzle with Bollywood museum

Mumbai: State tourism minister Jaykumar Raval on Wednesday announced in the legislative assembly that the state government is planning to set up a Bollywood museum in the city, which is the hub of entertainment in the city.

The museum will be set up either at Bandra or Juhu, he said.

Replying to various issues raised by members over the budgetary demands of the tourism department, Mr Raval said, “Considering the aspect that Bollywood is the tourist attraction of worldwide tourists, we are planning for a museum.

The urban development department is finalising the development plan of Mumbai. We have asked them to give land at Bandra or Juhu for the museum,” he said.

“Mumbai’s Bollywood has a golden history which could be a major tourist attraction. We are planning to show the beginning of Indian cinema, its golden era and the contributions by great actors like Amitabh Bacchan and Rajesh Khanna among others. Great singers like Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar as well great technicians, who erected sets, handled cameras and other aspects of cinema, will all be showcased,” Mr Rawal said.

The minister also announced that the government would come out with a new policy very soon to boost tourism. “UNESCO has declared 37 world heritage spots out of which five are in the Maharashtra. We are preparing a new policy to protect forts,” he said.

To boost tourism, the government will also offer stamp duty, GST and power tariff concessions to develop infrastructure for tourism, he added.