Bollywood woos tourism industry

NEW DELHI: Bollywood and tourism are as inseparable as Jai and Veeru were in the megahit Sholay.
This unusual parallel came from film producer Deepak Shivdasani as he dwelt upon ‘‘the eternal relationship’’ between tourism and the film industry here on Friday. Indeed, he was using a travel industry platform to suggest the Union and the state tourism ministries to frame a package of incentives to attract film and TV producers, prevent their flight to foreign shores and help showcase Indian destinations.
He asked, if England can capitalise on Bollywood’s popularity to promote destinations, why can’t India? In the past, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have made gains.But today, it is destinations, such as Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand and even Switzerland, which are ‘‘making a song and dance’’ of Indian movies, taking filmmakers on familiarisation tours, deliberately wooing an industry which churns out 800 feature films a year and gaining mileage from shots of exotic locales.
One estimate of the annual flight of capital is Rs 200 crore. The filmmakers, in turn, find the deals so attractive even scripts are now being designed to facilitate filming abroad.
For filmmakers like Shivdasani, what counts is the absence of bureaucratic redtape and ‘‘the maths’’. Go abroad, and shooting can begin without loss of time, fewer people are needed for the shoot, the actors are comfortable, their dates come at a stretch, the crowds are not a bother, the weather conditions are more favourable.
And, access, airline deals and hotel discounts all add up to hefty savings in time and money.