Shooting India's easier abroad
To avoid the problems involved in getting permission to shoot in the country, filmmakers are disguising foreign locales as India
MANISHA ALMADI MIDHA
What you see as Kashmir in Fanaa will actually be Poland. The dense jungles in Krrish, again purportedly local flora and fauna, are actually all foreign locations — this time Singapore. Filmmakers have always been adding some exotica to their films in form of foreign locations, but why are they disguising foreign locales as India now?
Explains filmmaker Kunal Kohli, who had to go to Poland to complete Fanaa, ''I was refused permission to shoot in Kashmir. So, I had to look for a place that resembled Kashmir, where I had already shot some scenes. And Poland was the most comfortable to shoot.'' Adds Rakesh Roshan who had to ''head to Singapore for Krrish because I wanted a dense forest and wasn't allowed to shoot in India.''
Insiders point out the recent example of Cheeni Kum to drive home the point. Some scenes of the movie, starring Big B and Tabu, were to be shot in a Gurgaon mall last weekend. The makers had taken permission from the builder for the shooting, but the local RWA took umbrage at the last moment. ''The ego clash between the two parties led to the actors waiting endlessly in their cars, only to be driven away finally,'' he says.
These problems have been experienced by others too. ''There are too many departments that one needs to go through in India. And you are still not sure if you will get the permission! Besides, it can never be achieved without a lot of bribe exchanging hands,'' remarks film distributor Sanjay Mehta.
A situation that they don't face abroad. Says Roshan, ''The government of Singapore was very helpful.'' Suneel Darshan who had to ''take off to South Africa since I wasn't allowed to shoot at the Air Force base in Pune for Andaaz'' echoes Roshan's opinion. ''I was told to wait for four months by the defence ministry to shoot. But how could I delay my film and get my actors' dates again?"
Director Anil Sharma also admits that he wasn't allowed to ''shoot for Gadar in Lucknow because of political interference.'' While Mehta encountered trouble ''from the archeological department of Rajasthan to shoot my film Dil Kya Kare,'' he explains.