CM Mamata Banerjee puts Bengal in Cannes spotlight

KOLKATA: Shooting international movies in Bengal has often meant horror stories of unprofessionalism and permission-procuring problems. But Mamata Banerjee is all set to bring about a positive change in the scheme of things. As a first step, she has sent actor-director Arindam Sil to the 68th Cannes Film Festival as part of an official delegate of the state government.Apart from trying to get films for the Kolkata film festival, Sil is there to woo international production houses by presenting Bengal as India’s most shooting-friendly destination.
Sil, who left Kolkata on May 18 and will be back on Sunday, said from the French Riviera, “I am carrying an audio-visual presentation that has glimpses of movies shot in Bengal — right from ‘Howrah Bridge’, ‘Mera Naam Joker’, ‘Yaraana’, ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Aradhana’, ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’, ‘City of Joy’, ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ to ‘The Japanese Wife’, ‘Yuva’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘Barfi’ and ‘Love Aaj Kal’.”
The presentation was prepared by the state tourism department. “It was already available with us. If I had time, I’d have liked to include ‘Gunday’, ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ and ‘Piku’ too,” said Sil.
Shooting units can now apply free of cost to the information and cultural affairs department and inform about their requirements. Sil claimed there are no costs involved in the shooting. “Nothing will be charged for shooting at public places and government areas. A nominal price will be charged only if 20 policemen are needed to guard shooting locations. All permissions will be handled and coordinated from one point. The I&CA department will coordinate with Lalbazar, Kolkata municipality and police for permissions. Getting the same permissions in Mumbai will mean shelling out approximately Rs 1 lakh. Added to that is the delay. In Bengal, we will offer logistic support as well,” he added. Henceforth, police and municipal permissions to shoot in Bengal will get single window clearance.
Atri Bhattacharya, secretary, information and cultural affairs, confirmed Sil’s promise. “Two big production houses have already approached us for single-window clearance. One of them is a Hollywood production.”
In the recent past, Sil said, permission for removing all the railings on Dalhousie Square to shoot ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ was granted in five days flat. “In case of ‘Piku’, our chief minister called up the department in front of us and permission was granted across the table. At Cannes market, I am meeting representatives from all countries to offer people the best shooting-friendly location in our country,” he said.
State youth welfare minister Aroop Biswas said, “We are trying to expedite matters and extending necessary support for shooting in Bengal. Strikes don’t happen at the drop of a hat any longer.”
Those handling international productions in India are thrilled with this news. Pravesh Sahani of India Take One, who recently shot Nicole Kidman’s ‘Lion’ in Kolkata, said, “Earlier on, we had to separately approach for permissions from Kolkata and West Bengal Police. Then, we had to go to the Port Trust for other permissions. If these things are sorted under one roof, it will be great for us.”
Dileep Singh Rathore of On The Road Productions recalled how it was a nightmare for him to shoot for Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’ in Darjeeling some time in 2009. “Procuring permissions was problematic. People had to be paid exorbitant sum of money. International units want things done on time. This is big news for us,” he said. Rathore was the person coordinating the shoots in 2011 for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Rises’ in Jodhpur. Last year, he shot the Gerard Butler starrer ‘Point Break’ in Mumbai and then again with Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman for ‘London has Fallen’ in Jaipur.
Kolkata, however, was not on his radar while location-hunting for those movies. “Many international movies are now being shot in Morocco because of the king’s personal initiative. If the CM is extending such support, I’ll consider shooting in Kolkata. We had shot a German film called ‘Monsoon Baby’ in Kolkata. Despite Bengal having such great locations, logistics were an issue,” Rathore said.
Sahani will appreciate if Bengal looked into reducing the mandatory number of local technicians needed to be hired by international crews even when they aren’t needed during shooting. “It’ll help if that figure is reduced from 33% to 10%. While we want to encourage local unions, we don’t want to be forced. Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and Rajasthan governments don’t do this.”