The Hindu : Bollywood colour to Darjeeling

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002

National

National

Bollywood colour to Darjeeling

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA NOV. 27. The hills of Darjeeling are warming up, thanks to two Bollywood stars. Actor Shahrukh Khan, basking in the glory of the success of `Devdas', and Sushmita Sen are expected to arrive there on December 1 for a shooting stint.

Darjeeling in north Bengal is agog, with hotels, restaurants and the tourists waiting for the stars to add colour to the grey wintry landscape.

Shahrukh Khan has chosen Darjeeling for his home production, `Mai Hoon Na', to be directed by choreographer Farah Khan.

The arrival of the stars is proving to be a headache for an administration which already finds itself stretched doing the day-to-day management of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, already bursting at their seams. Though it is off-season for the three towns — domestic tourists avoid going to these places because of the extreme cold which foreign tourists love — the administration is trying to figure out how best it can organise the security cover for the two `high security' filmstars.

Shahrukh Khan is arriving with a film crew of at least 200 artistes and chefs from Bangalore. Before Bollywood discovered the importance of making films in Switzerland and other foreign locations, Darjeeling was the near-must location for in the sixties.

A large part of the shooting will take place in the famous St. Paul's school as Shahrukh Khan is playing the role of a teacher.

The children, however, would not be able to watch him as the school closes for Christmas on November 30.

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