Exotic Locales in Indian Cinema
Cinema has always been a world of fantasy and grandeur. What a common man cannot do in the real world is done by the star in the reel world. The artistic eyes of the filmmaker always wants the frame to be outstanding or beyond normal. How do you get it? The film is shot in exotic locations. Indian cinema has always fantasized about shooting in foreign locales. It was in the late 1970’s Indian cinema industry went abroad to film.
They mostly frequented U. S. A, Singapore or the United Kingdom.In the early days mostly songs were shot in these foreign countries. They were received well by the audience which made more filmmakers to follow suit. The three major movie industries in Indian cinema go to foreign locations to shoot the most. They are Hindi, Tamil and Telugu industries respectively.
Films in other languages are rarely shot in foreign countries. In the last few years Hindi films are shot entirely in foreign countries. This has given the audience a refreshing experience.Hindi films released recently like Race, Dhoom, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, My Name Is Khan, Housefull , Kites, Prince, New York , Kambakth Ishqq, Blue, London dreams , Life partner, Dostana, Chandni Chowkh to China, Luck, etc, were filmed entirely in foreign locales. These films were well received by the Indian audience especially the locations. Many foreign countries encourage shooting of Indian films by providing very good support. There are countries which provide monetary help to films shot in their country.
Countries like U. S. A, U.K, South Africa, France, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia provide support to Indian film companies and are frequented mostly for shooting. Though shooting in foreign locations make the film look more grand,the cost of shooting is much cheaper when compared to shooting inside india. This sis because when shooting abroad the number of people in the crew is considerably less than in local shooting which infact makes hindi film producers to opt for filming in foreign countries. Songs in Tamil films were shot in foreign locations usually.
But the trend has been changing lately with films shot entirely in foreign countries. Last year the film Asal was shot entirely in France which was a new location for the Tamil industry. Films like Billa,Thillalangadi, Thambiku intha ooru, vinnai thandi varuvaya were shot in foreign countries. Kamal Hassan starrer Manmadhan ambu is being shot entirely in a cruise liner in Greece. Poda Podi a film starring Silambarasan is being filmed entirely in and around London. But not only foreign countries are exotic locations.There are many extraordinary places in india which are more beautiful than those alps and the ports.
Locations like Shimla,Kashmir, Coorg, Athirappaly, Hogennakal etc,. Are indeed exotic locales in India. These locations in fact are more adhering to the Indian culture and are beautiful too. There are legendary filmmakers who have shot their films entirely inside the subcontinent. Maniratnam, Mahendran, Balumahendra, Ram Gopal Varma are few brilliant filmmakers who have not wandered around the globe scouting for locations.They shot entirely inside India and showcased its beauty to the world. Recently released film Raavanan which was shot entirely around the southindian forest region was appreciated by the international audience.
The audience found the jungle and the rivers more terrorizing than the amazon. So we can conclude that any location as such which adds to the beauty of the scene and supports the emotions and feelings of the characters can be justified as an exotic location. But the trend of shooting scenes and songs in foreign countries for no reason is rather a disturbing fact.
