In a bid to gain film revenue and a boost in tourist numbers from India, New Zealand has thrown open its doors to Bollywood through a new deal for greater cooperation between the film industries of both countries.
In a bid to gain film revenue and a boost in tourist numbers from India, New Zealand has thrown open its doors to Bollywood through a new deal for greater cooperation between the film industries of both countries.
“We hope to build on our already strong cultural and economic ties with India,” New Zealand prime minister John key told mediapersons at Film City on Wednesday. He was visiting the sets of the Abhishek Bachchan-Bipasha Basu starrer Players, which has been partly shot in New Zealand.
Key, who is visiting India with a 25-member delegation, signed a co-production agreement with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. The agreement, which was negotiated by New Zealand’s ministry for culture and heritage and India’s ministry of information and broadcasting, aims to enhance joint investment and creative input between film industries of both countries.
Several Hindi films have been shot in New Zealand, and Key hopes that stronger ties between the two nations will encourage future projects in his country. “India is a massive market since it produces nearly three times as many movies as Hollywood does,” he said. “And Indian films shot in our country introduce Indians to New Zealand from a tourism perspective.”
Key added that nearly 150 Indian films have been shot in New Zealand in the last decade. “Bollywood is well-known in New Zealand and we hope that the scenery whets the appetite of Indian travellers who would like to come visit.”
The agreement, said to be under negotiation since 2007, allows filmmakers from both countries to have their movies given co-production status. It also puts Bollywood filmmakers on the same footing as filmmakers from New Zealand, giving them access to funding and other incentives which filmmakers in New Zealand enjoy, and also makes it easy to for Indian filmmakers to bring over cast, crew and equipment.
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