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The picturesque landscapes of Switzerland - immortalised in many a Bollywood flick - are no longer favoured shooting destinations with Indian filmmakers. Switzerland's not-so-industry-friendly policies are proving to be big turn-off for Indian filmmakers, who are instead exploring more business-friendly nations. The country was first favoured by Indian filmmakers way back in the 1960s when Raj Kapoor shot "Sangam" and Shakti Samanta "An Evening in Paris". Amitava Tripathi, India's ambassador to Switzerland, told IANS here: "Switzerland is no longer a sought after destination for Indian filmmakers. It's very expensive to shoot a film here. "East European countries like Hungary and Poland are offering attractive packages to our filmmakers. They are luring them with lower costs and bigger tax incentives. When filmmakers are getting equally beautiful locations at cheaper rates, why would they shoot here?" It was only last year that filmmakers, from both Bollywood and other regions, started capturing virgin locations of Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Before that Switzerland was the eternal choice of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu filmmakers. On an average, 25 Bollywood movies were shot in the picturesque backdrops each year. In fact, Switzerland's government conferred on filmmaker Yash Chopra the Swiss Filmfare Award in 2002 for promoting the country as a tourist destination. Chopra shot "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" and "Mujhse Dosti Karoge" here. Besides luring travellers, the celluloid czars brought big business to Switzerland. "Bollywood movies gave Switzerland tourism a big push. The films were an ideal link between Indians and the tourism department. Going by the huge popularity of Indian movies, I am sure Switzerland is losing a lot," Tripathi said. "There are two big film industries in the world - Hollywood and Bollywood. In terms of quality or budget, Hollywood is ahead but it can never beat our film industry in terms of quantity. We make at least a thousand movies a year," he said. The Swiss authorities are not happy to lose out on business. "But they are not able to come up with a nice package. Labour costs are high here; everything is so expensive. The government is reluctant to come up with a flexible policy." He said many European countries are now offering technical staff and machinery to filmmakers at attractive prices. Hungary provides a 20 percent rebate on production costs. It also offers cheaper, yet highly skilled labour. Sanjay Leela Bansali shot some scenes of "Hum Dil Chuke Sanam" in Hungary while the Aamir Khan- Kajol-starrer "Fanaa" was partially shot in Tatra mountains and Zakopane in Poland. T.J. Joseph, marketing officer in the Indian embassy, said: "It's not just the financial part - the filmmakers are also looking for fresh locations. When they have options why would they shoot at the same place over and over again?" Farhan Akhtar shot his big budget film "Don" in Malaysia. Karan Johar too chose Malaysia for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" as it offers a single window clearance for processing applications for shooting. Anurag Bose's "Gangster" was partly shot in South Korea, another region that has not been explored. Another big budget film "Dhoom II" was shot in Brazil. The super-hit "Salaam Namaste" - shot in Melbourne - had Indian tourists heading for Australia. Yash Raj Film's "Neal N Nikki" inspired many to explore Canada beyond the famous Niagara Falls. Small island nations like the Maldives and Mauritius have also found favour with Bollywood. So is Bollywood's honeymoon with Switzerland finally over? source:nowrunning Related StoriesLokesh--Brahmani-Honeymoon-in-Switzerland  Lokesh and Brahmani will go to Switzerland for their honeymoon. They will spend about a week in Switzerland. The newly wed are going to Tirumala today and after having dharshan of Lord Venkateswara Swamy they will reach Naravaripalli for the reception tomorrow. Balakrishna is hosting another reception at NT Rama Rao’s native place Nimmakuru in Krishna district on Thursday. &nbs more HTPL-next-destination---A-honeymoon-to-Dubai  In a unique gimmick of sorts to promote the forthcoming romantic comedy, HONEYMOON TRAVELS..., Zee TV UK and Studio 18 have collaborated to give away a free honeymoon, courtesy of Easy Travels. The winning couple of the HONEYMOON TRAVELS... competition, currently on-air, wins a plush holiday to the Jumeirah Beach in Dubai. The competition is open for those living in UK. more Amisha-goes-on-a-Honeymoon!  Amisha Patel who was last seen in the film ‘Aap Ki Khatir’ is now going on a Honeymoon to Goa. No, she has not married her beau Vikram Bhatt. She is starring in a new film ‘Honeymoon Travels Private Limited’ being directed by Reema Kagti. 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Directed and produced by CV Reddy on the banner of CV Movies Pvt Ltd, 'Pagale Vennela' with Sivabalaji and Mythili had completed all the post-production formalities and is ready for release in the third week of January. Director cum producer CV Reddy says, 'We moulded 'Pagale Vennela' as a total entertainer that could make all classes of audiences to heartily laugh with a fun-filled comedy. It has love and entertainment in equal ratio. It is the story of a youth who settled in a good job, gets married and enjoy his honeym more Swiss-get-a-taste-of-Bollywood,-in-their-own-Alps A Swiss filmmaker mesmerized by Bollywood's over-the-top offerings is giving audiences back home a taste of music and melodrama in a new film that has the Alps for a backdrop. "Tandoori Love," a romantic comedy about an Indian cook wooing a Swiss girl, is a 92-minute saga with song and dance, fights and a happy ending -- the usual trappings of films from Mumbai, home to the world's most prolific film industry. "I love the energy that Indian films have -- the songs, the dances and the melodrama," director Oliver Paulus told Reuters recently in the tourist haven of Goa, where the film was shown at the International Film Festival of India. "I wanted to bring that energy to European films, which typically are ve more Honeymoon-Invitation-for-Ash-and-Abhi  Even before the date for their wedding has been finalized, there is a lot of peculation in the media about their Honeymoon plans. It is now learnt that the ministry of Tourism in Ireland has sent an official invite to Aishwary Rai and Abhisekh Bachchan to visit Ireland for their honeymoon. The invitation said that the ministry of Tourism in Ireland would provide airfare to the couple and also provide accommodation at the Ashford castle. The place has a rich history. Eminent personalities like the Rea more Babu-in-Switzerland-for…-  The TDP chief is now at a secret destination abroad. The TDP top brass is also in the dark about his exact whereabouts. It is believed that Babu is now in Switzerland. The rumour doing the rounds in political circles is that Babu may have gone to Switzerland to move his millions stashed away in Swiss banks to some safer place. Both the BJP and the Congress are promising to bring all the black money lying in Swiss banks once they come to power. Another version doing the rounds is th more Four-movie-trailers-with-Don There’s a surprise in store when you enter the auditorium to watch DON. The theatrical trailers of Yashraj’s DHOOM 2, J.P. Dutta’s UMRAO JAAN, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s next film HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD. and Arjun Rampal’s film production debut I SEE YOU are unfolded minutes before DON begins. While most of us may’ve watched the DHOOM 2 trailer before, the remaining three trailers -- UMRAO JAAN, HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD. and I SEE YOU -- are a new experience completely. While HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD. is directed by Reema Kagti, I SEE YOU is produced by Arjun’s company Chasing Ganesha Films and is produced by Mehr Rampal. By the way, there’s a showreel on Malaysia too, since DON has been shot extensive more When-Abhay-Deol---Minissha-almost-took-‘honeymoon’-seriously  Looks like everyone on the sets of Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Reema Kagti-directed "Honeymoon Travels..." had fun, and in more ways than one! After we disclosed the Shabana-Boman and Raima-Kay Kay kisses, we believe Abhay Deol and Minissha Lamba were meant to be the third couple in liplock! But they didn't and Abhay didn't have his way! During the picturisation of the tango number, 'Pyaar Ki Ek Kahani Suno', the chemistry between Abhay and Minissha was palpable. Abhay had a huge crush on Minissha and was keen more |
