This Article is From Aug 20, 2016

A Mughal-E-Azam Park Is Akhilesh Yadav's New Plan For Home Base Etawah

A Mughal-E-Azam Park Is Akhilesh Yadav's New Plan For Home Base Etawah

Akhilesh Yadav has planned a theme park based on the Hindi movie Mughal-e-Azam.

Etawah: Over the past few years, Uttar Pradesh's Etawah has reaped rich benefits as the family base of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh.

A lion safari, a Bollywood festival and a medical college are just some of the star attractions in this district 240 km from capital Lucknow.

Months ahead of elections in the state, the Yadavs' latest offering for their home district may be a little perplexing - a "Mughal-e-Azam" theme park based on one of the most extravagant Hindi movies ever made.

There is a big connection, insists the ruling Samajwadi Party.

The film's director K Asif was born in Etawah in 1924, say leaders, and he then moved to Mumbai to try his luck in movies. It is this legacy that the state government wants to honour.

The 1960 film starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala told the epic love story of an emperor's son and a courtesan.

The UP government's plan is to have key characters from the movie come alive at the park to help promote tourism in Etawah. No time frame or expenses have been shared but sources say the project could cost crores.

Details are still fuzzy on how exactly the government plans to draw tourists to a district that has never really stood out as a tourist destination.

The Yadav family's annual festival at Safai, a star-studded affair featuring top names from Bollywood, has steadily grown in scale and grandeur despite controversies.

The state government has been accused of investing both money and resources into the "Safai Mahotsav".
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