The Hindu : Tribal agitation scares away Bollywood team

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Tribal agitation scares away Bollywood team

By N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM April 29. The tribal agitation at the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad seems to have created a notion that the State's forests were unsafe and were infested with brigands.

The shooting of the noted Bollywood director, Ravi Chopra's latest film, `Bhagban' starring Amitabh Bachchan and Aiswarya Rai, which was scheduled be held at Periyar River and the forests in the State for a fortnight from April 5, was cancelled at the last moment.

According to industry sources, Mr. Chopra was initially planning to shoot the song sequences of the film in Malaysia but he decided to shift to Kerala following the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) threat.

The representatives of the production house contacted an agent in Kochi and made all arrangements for the shooting. As many as 15 rooms were reserved in one of the posh hotels in Kochi and preparations were made to provide outdoor unit and other paraphernalia, including junior artistes.

Some of the members of the crew incidentally brought the Muthanga incidents to the notice of the production house.

They had an impression that the tribals in the forests were waging a war against the Government and would abduct anyone, especially VIPs such as Mr. Bachchan and Mr. Chopra who entered their territory, sources said.

Immediately, they contacted the agent and sought the details about the agitation.

He tried to convince them that Muthanga was almost 100 miles away from the shooting locale but they refused to comply as they felt that the life of the superstar would be at peril.

The Mumbai company is reported to have chided the agent for suppressing the facts and persuading them to come to Kerala.

The song sequences of the Hindi film, `Gupt', were shot in Periyar. With the lush green forests and backwaters, Kerala is gradually emerging as one of the preferred locations of Hindi films.

This would help generate employment opportunities too.

Unlike Malayalam films, Bollywood films have a whopping budget and production houses spent at least Rs. 5 lakhs a day.

Had the Bachchan film been shot here, it would have been a great exposure to the tourism potential of the State, sources said.

In spite of the sporadic terrorists' strikes and growing unrest, Kashmir was making an all-out effort to lure Bollywood artistes to the State and they have almost succeeded too.

Braving inclement weather and adverse law and order situation, Bollywood producers and directors were increasingly going to Kashmir to shoot song sequences, industry sources said.

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