Malaysia builds film city for Indian filmmakers

MUMBAI: European countries have of late been wooing Bollywood filmmakers to come and shoot their movies there in order to give a boost to their tourism. But Malaysia has gone a step further by building a film city to cater to the needs of Indian movie-makers.

Besides having all sorts of ready-made locales, the film city, sprawled across 107 acres of land, also has post-production facilities. So, if a producer desires, he can complete his entire movie there to cut costs. The project has been sponsored by Malaysian investment company P.K. Resources.

In recent past, Malaysia has been one of the most favourite shooting locations of Hindi as well as other Indian movie-makers including Tamil and Telugu. In order to make it more Bollywood-friendly, the company has apparently planned to put some Bollywood celebrities on its management board.

These days almost all major Bollywood movies are partly shot in one or the other foreign country. Producers prefer to shoot abroad, not only to capture the unusual locales, but also for speedy completion of the movies as the stars and other unit member can devote completely to the project without distraction.

Shooting abroad is more hassle-free than in India. While shooting in India, a producer has to be constantly on his toes to secure clearance from several government departments.

On the other hand, Australia and European countries try to provide Bollywood all conceivable help, including single-window clearance for all facilities required for film shootings and reduced rates - in some cases, no charges - for the same.