Khushboo Gujarat ki is now all set to sizzle on 70mm in a big way. Gujarat’s tourism department has designed a Film Shooting and Promotion Policy, which amongst a host of other strategic promotional policies, includes very quick a single window clearance for multiple permissions required to shoot a film at different locations in huge state without harassments along with lucrative discounts.
The stated purpose of such a policy is Bollywood being seen as an effective medium to promote state’s tourism through a glamorous portrayal in the celluloid. A government resolution on the policy is expected next week itself. At least seven mainstream movies have already been shot in Gujarat, the latest high profile film being Ram Leela scheduled to release next week.
Secretary tourism, Vipul Mittra informs the policy was formed after taking feedback from the industry. “We discussed with the industry bigwigs at the Big Picture conference organised by CII in Delhi a few months ago,” he said. Typically, a film producer needs to take 10-12 permissions to shoot at a location, which can take any number of days or months.
“We are pitching locations like the Great Rann of Kutch, Little Rann of Kutch, forest areas, coastal areas, etc. if they shoot at any of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd properties, they get a 50-25% discount on their bookings,” says Kirti Thakkar, a member of the Film Cell formed in the TCGL.
“The main attraction of the policy is that permission will have to be granted maximum within a fortnight of the application. If the respective departments do not give a reply in writing within a fortnight, the permission would be deemed to have been given,” he said. The cell, which will aggressively promote this policy and facilitate its execution, will have offices in Gandhinagar and Mumbai for execution and promotion of the policy, respectively.
Despite the fact that Mumbai has hosted the film industry for as long as one can recall, Thakkar laments that a producer still wastes sufficient time trying to overcome hassles in executing the shoot. “The police charges can be very steep ranging from Rs25,000 per day to up to Rs1 lakh per day, depending on the location and the starcast present. In this policy, police bandobast charges will be waived off.
Officials of the TCGL claim tourism in Spain has shot up multifold since the movie ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ starting some of the top Bollywood actors was shot in different locations there.
South Korea too has a policy of giving flat 25% discount to producers to shoot in the country. For Gujarat, an inherent advantage now is its tourism is being promoted by Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan. Chief minister Narendra Modi’s regular visits by some some Bollywood stars and his proximity to them is also known. Paresh Raval has campaigned for Modi and Vivek Oberoi is a member of the BJP. Wife of senior actor Anupam Kher Kirron is also active in politics. Actors like Ajay Devgn, John Abraham among others have visited Modi often.
Though popular Bollywood tops the agenda, Hollywood and documentary films along with travel channels are also on the cards. “Two mainstream travel channels were in Gujarat during Navratri this year to shoot for a travel show. In 2012 and 2013 TCGL has been present in Cannes International Film Festival to pitch the state to international film makers in 2012 and 2013. A German team that had a storyboard of Poland has done a recce of the state for potential sites for the shoot. National Geographic has recently shot a documentary on the Balasinore Dinosaur Park,” Thakkar says.
“The producers guild in Bollywood has given us a very positive response. Teams of Rajashree productions, Dharma Productions and many others have visited several sites. Ashutosh Gowariker is shooting a song each at Somnath and Dwarka in his forthcoming films. Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, Anurag Kashyap are amongst those who have promised to come here, “ Thakkar adds. A coffee table book titled 50 Golden Destinations of Gujarat has been prepared, which is being circulated amongst the producers, production house and online producers in Bollywood.
Vipul Mittra, secretary tourism, said that the policy was formed after the dept took feedback from industry bigwigs at the Big Picture conference organised by CII in Delhi a few months ago.
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