There’s no question the past few days of Barinder Rasode’s visit to Toronto have been as much fun as they’ve been work.
“It is so cool,” Rasode, a Surrey councillor, enthused in a telephone interview Friday of the colourful scene in the city in advance of the 2011 International Indian Film Academy awards honouring Bollywood’s best films and their stars.
“All the buzz ... Toronto is totally Bollywood-ed out,” she said.
Rasode flew into East Thursday, accompanied by two city staffers, on a brief (three-day) but deliberate mission to showcase their city and all that it has to offer to visiting Bollywood elite.
“Bollywood is like a billion-dollar industry. It is way bigger than Hollywood and we want to attract them to come to Surrey” she said of the economic potential of a partnership.
It’s not the first time British Columbian politicians have tried to catch the eye of film producers in India.
In 2002, Herb Dhaliwal, then minister of natural resources, announced that famed Bollywood producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra — whose 2009 film 3 Idiots holds the record for making the most money in Indian film history — was set to shoot a $20-million political thriller in Vancouver.
The news generated plenty of excitement locally, particularly in Surrey where, according to Statistics Canada census information, more than 30 per cent of households speak Punjabi as their primary language.
“For a director of his calibre to come to Vancouver to shoot his movie is certainly very encouraging,” Kamal Sharma, a Bollywood aficionado and owner of Kamal’s Video Palace in Surrey, said at the time.
But the movie never came to pass.
Sharma, in an interview Thursday, said Chopra sent over scouts, but eventually abandoned the location after attracting little response from government to his queries for help and information in manoeuvring through the bureaucratic red tape.
The region has remained off the Bollywood radar ever since, according to Sharma.
“And that is a big, sad loss for British Columbians because if those guys come and film their movies here, they can certainly attract a lot more business from others,” he said.
Rasode said Surrey has grown up a lot over the last few years and building a direct relationship with international film makers “is one of the areas we want to bring on the radar, because we haven’t been on the radar yet.”
Rasode said the city is a natural for Bollywood producers to consider with access to urban centres, agricultural lands, border crossings and waterfront as well as an untapped well of local talent among the city’s large population of South Asian residents.
“For sure, the potential is there for us both from an economic-generating perspective and from the arts and culture perspective,” she said.
To sweeten the appeal, Surrey is also in the early phases of building a new convention centre, which will include a state-of-the-art production facility, and working with Simon Fraser University to promote the school’s digital technology expertise.
While in Toronto, Rasode met with representatives of Yash Raj Films, the largest film producer in Asia, in an effort to further discussions about Surrey’s potential as a Bollywood film destination.
“We had good conversations and are going to work on getting SFU students to be interns for when Yash Raj comes to film in Surrey and also for students to from here back to India,” she said.
Rasode said Surrey also has an eye on hosting the IIFA in five to 10 years and she has had discussions with IIFA producers, Mumbai-based Wizcraft International Entertainment.
Toronto’s successful bid marks the first time the glitzy international event has come to North America. The Ontario government poured in $12 million to help bring it to the province.
The three-day IIFA weekend is described as India’s biggest media event with the marquee awards show considered one of world’s most-watched televised spectacles.
Festivities include a film festival, music, fashion and an awards night Saturday.
More than 200 filmmakers and stars are expected from India and overseas. They include famed Kapoor family members Neetu, Raj, Randhir and Rishi; brothers Bobby and Sunny Deol and their legendary father Dharmendra; as well as Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Karan Johar, Madhavan and Mallika Sherawat.
Anil Kapoor, best known for roles in 24 and Slumdog Millionaire, and Shilpa Shetty, the actress and model who was embroiled in a controversy on Britain’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, are also expected to be present.
No comments:
Post a Comment