Hven while we write this, Abhishek Kapoor has taken his entire cast of ‘Fitoor’ for their second and final schedule to Kashmir, the place that’s rightly called the paradise on earth. The adaptation of Great Expectations the film stars Rekha, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapoor in lead. ‘Fitoor’ might be one of the many films which are being shot in Kashmir in the last couple of years.
Ashutosh Gowarikar’s team for ‘Mohenjo Daro’, has also reached Bhuj to commence shooting the film. The film which stars Hrithik Roshan in the lead promises to be a film which will be cinematographically very stark, just like the barren lands where they have started the shoot. While many a times, the place the filmmakers chose to shoot their film in, is directly associated with script, there are other times when the filmmaker takes the entire cast and crew to a foreign locale to simply add value to their film.
There was a time Kashmir was one of the most sought after shooting venues for Bollywood but it was very smoothly shifted to Switzerland and no one complained. It was like going abroad on a film ticket for most middle class audience, however, with the social structure being what it is today, audience has changed. With films also catering heavily on the NRI market, the filmmakers are now more involved in showing India like never seen before.
While directors like Imtiaz Ali has often come forth and said he feels mesmerized by the hilly terrains of north India, most of his films are shot extensively in Himachal Pradesh be it ‘Jab We Met’ or ‘Rockstar’ or ‘Highway’. Showing off the beauty of our lands is something that surely comes to Imtiaz naturally. What he started, filmmakers like Ayaan Mukerji have taken forward. Ayaan might have roamed the streets of Europe and America for a song ‘Ilahi’ in ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’, but the young filmmaker makes up for the budget by shooting the streets of Mumbai, Jodhpur too…
Goa too is a hot fave amongst Indian filmmakers, with films like ‘Dum Maro Dum’, ‘Finding Fanny Fernandes’, ‘Ek Villain’, ‘Aashiqui 2’ have all found a cozy spot to shoot, it was hit-maker Rohit Shetty who had once sworn he is incapable of shooting anywhere else. Shetty however did move away from Goa in ‘Chennai Express’, but he stuck to India diligently through his films, ensuring he uses up the vast reserves we have while he continues to make his blockbusters.
It is rather heartwarming to see the filmmakers sticking to shoot in India, giving our country a chance to reap the benefits from the largest film industry in the world.
