Bollywood set to explore Poland

Bollywood set to explore Poland Mumbai, February 8, 2006

<> var href= window.location.href; href = href.substring(7); var idx = href.indexOf("/"); var relpath = href.substring(idx); document.write("" + " "); Advertisement 0.gif" width=1> var zflag_nid="294"; var zflag_cid="1"; var zflag_sid="0"; var zflag_width="180"; var zflag_height="150"; var zflag_sz="13"; < marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://c2.zedo.com/jsc/c2/ff2.?n=294;c=1;d=13;w=180;h=150" Border=0 width=180 scrolling=no height=150 allowTransparency>< ="" src="http://c2.zedo.com/jsc/c2/ff2.js"> </>

With top stars like Aamir Khan, Kajol and Suniel Shetty busy shooting in the Poland winter, the scene for Bollywood looks bright in this east European country.

Last year many Bollywood films were shown in Polish cinema halls. Shah Rukh Khan's movies Main Hoon Na, Kal Ho Na Ho and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham were great hits and he became a big craze for young cinemagoers here.

And now Yash Raj Films, which produced hits like Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, has perhaps become the first Bollywood production company to shoot on the slopes of the Tatar mountains.

They have selected a beautiful hill station, Zakopane, 400 km away from here in the south of Poland, to shoot the action scenes for the Kunal Kohli-directed Fanaah as the story is related to the background of Kashmir.

Aamir, Suniel and Kajol are shooting for the film and are braving a harsh winter as temperatures are around minus 10 to 14 degrees Celsius in day time and around minus 20 degrees at night.

A still from Kunal Kohli's under-production film Fanaah. The action scenes of the film are being shot in the south of Poland. Kajol and Aamir are coming together for the first time. Aamir plays a terrorist in love with a Kashmiri girl.

Gutek Films, which distributed Shah Rukh's films in Poland last year, is looking after the logistics that include choppers and other aircraft.

A representative of Gutek films told IANS that "our cooperation is working well and according to the schedule".

"I am happy that an Indian film company has decided to shoot in Poland. I do hope more and more Indian film crews will come to shoot in the spring and summer months when parts of the Poland landscape is as beautiful as some parts of Switzerland," Indian Ambassador Anil Wadhwa said.

The Indian community in Warsaw too is thrilled about the presence of Bollywood stars in Poland.

The president of the Indian Association, JJ Singh, has contacted the producer so that Indians there are allowed to see the shooting Feb 11 at Zakopane.

Poland is a country with a long history of flim production and its world famous directors, Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Krzystof Zanussi all came out from the film institute at Lodz.

Apart from Lodz, many other places in Poland have their own medium-size studios.

Actor-cum-politician Vinod Khanna said last year that Poland was a suitable destination for Bollywood filmmakers and he would persuade fellow Indian producers to shoot there.

Khanna had also visited a few production studios and felt satisfied with the quality of production and equipment.

"At the same time the cost of labour in Poland is much cheaper than anywhere in Europe," he had added