MUMBAI’S NEWEST LANDMARK NITA MUKESH AMBANI CULTURAL CENTRE

Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre has captured the fancy of one and all and is the newest landmark in Mumbai.

The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai is the newest landmark in the city. Its opening on March 31 took the internet by storm as on-site photos from it started doing the rounds. The inauguration of NMACC saw celebrities from across the world, including the likes of Gigi Hadid, Tom Holland, Priyanka Chopra, Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bandra and, of course, some of the biggest names of the Indian film industry. The Centre aims to promote Indian arts and culture, and aims to be the big stage for the same. It is a dedicated multi-disciplinary art and culture space and also aims at identifying and promoting new talent. A number of online and offline events will also be conducted here. Visitors can book NMACC tickets online and soak in the grandeur of varying forms of different arts here. The space boasts of world-class infrastructure and is spread over 0.45 million sq ft, complete with exhibition spaces and three theatres. It even comes with an orchestra pit that can accommodate 80 musicians at a time, a four-storey art house (16,000 sq ft), and the grand theatre that has a whopping capacity of 2,000! Look closely and you will find that its roof is lit by 8,400 Swarovski crystals. The space is built keeping needs of specially-abled people in mind and eases access of art for everyone.

• Peaky Blinders creator and renowned industry figurehead Steven Knight establishes Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham, UK

• Studios to put Birmingham and the West Midlands on the map as a flagship location for premier TV and film production

• Studios open now for bookings from July 2023

• Studios to catalyse transformational regeneration of Birmingham’s Digbeth area, creating 760 new jobs

The new, high-profile studios are the brainchild of acclaimed British screenwriter, director and producer, Steven Knight. His vision, alongside business partner, TIME+SPACE CEO

Piers Read, is to create a long-term cultural legacy for his home city by welcoming major blue-chip brands to the multimedia headquarters.

Construction on the site starts today, with works expected to complete by 15th July, ready for occupation. The first filming onsite will take place in October, as Digbeth Loc. Studios officially becomes open for business from next week.

The £1.3m investment by Birmingham City Council, together with landowner Homes England and with support from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), aims to mobilise the region’s £4bn Creative Economy, offering a flagship focal point to draw and inspire both local and international screen-industries talent. It is anticipated the studios will contribute more than £30m to the local economy, creating 760 local jobs. Digbeth Loc. Studios represents the first major television and film production facilities of this scale to ever be developed in Birmingham, reigniting the city’s illustrious heritage as a UK base for programme-making and broadcasting.

A range of exciting, internationally lauded productions are already committed to partnering with Digbeth Loc. Studios. These include the BBC drama This Town (made by Kudos, a Banijay UK company) – telling the story of the West Midlands’ groundbreaking ska and two-tone heritage – and the world’s most successful food format, MasterChef, produced by Shine TV, also part of Banijay UK. An area of the new studios is also expected to be occupied by legendary Birmingham reggae band UB40, making it a wide-ranging, multimedia West Midlands home for upcoming and existing creative and cultural talent.

Knight’s project follows the huge international success of Peaky Blinders, which has put Birmingham and the wider West Midlands on the global cultural map. Since first hitting TV screens in 2013, the smash hit drama has been credited with a 26% increase in domestic visitors to Birmingham and a 19% rise in international tour-