Seeing the increasing trend of Bollywood capturing the pastoral charm of Punjab in camera after zooming in on the international locations, the Punjab Government is finally focusing its attention on promoting the State as filmmaker’s paradise.
The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board is, in fact, has already formulated a policy for promoting film tourism in the State. The Board is expected to make it a reality soon. This is not all! To further facilitate them, the Board is also considering to introduce a single-window clearance system for the film producers to make the permission process for shooting hassle-free.
The decision came after the State turned into a perfect Bollywood destination with its sunshine-yellow mustard fields, heritage sites, open spaces and vibrant lifestyle. Moreover, the Punjabi cinema, known as Pollywood, has also witnessed a resurgence coming up with quality work. The policy would aim at tapping the filmmakers by developing various sites of the State for the film shooting, besides according a single window clearance for the purpose.
“The Film Tourism Policy has been formulated by working in close association with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The policy is almost finalised and we are expecting that it will be notified soon,” PHTPB chief executive officer Basanta Raj Kumar told The Pioneer.
The NFDC, a central agency, functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution, besides planning, promoting and organising an integrated and efficient development of the Indian film industry and foster excellence in cinema.
In Punjab, destinations like Amritsar, Patiala have emerged as preferred destinations for film shoots because of the Golden Temple, the forts, royal palaces, among other things.“Our main aim is to promote Punjab as a destination for film shooting. Though people are coming here, but we want to facilitate them by making things easier, that would further encourage the inflow,” said Kumar.
While tapping the strengths of the already sought-after destinations, the Board is working with an object of creating more circuits around the already developed ones.As a part of the policy, the Board would also put in place a single-window clearance system for film producers to make easy the permission process for shooting.
Considering Punjab being a border State and sharing its border with Pakistan, getting Government permissions for every film shoot is not that easy. “So, the single-window system would help them in getting permissions in hassle-free manner,” said a senior PHTPB official.
The officer said that other than facilitating the production teams in getting clearances through single-window, the Board would also help them in getting “extras” required for the production, which will effectively generate employment for the local people.
The past five years of more have witnessed the likes of Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Akshay Kumar shooting their films in Chandigarh and nearby areas of Punjab.Among the top heroines, Bollywood A-listers Kareena Kapoor Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sonakshi Sinha, Preity Zinta, Sonam Kapoor and others have shot films.
Films such as Salman Khan’s Bodyguard, Shahid Kapur’s Mausam, Akshay Kumar’s Joker, Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar, Imran Khan’s Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Farhan Akhtar’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, have all been shot in and around Chandigarh, Patiala and other locations in Punjab.
The most preferred destination for film shooting is Patiala’s Baradari Palace Hotel — a Mughal-style colonnaded colonial building constructed in 1876. It was here, among others, where the Bodyguard, Yamla Pagla Deewana, and Mausam were filmed. It charged Rs1.5 lakh per day for video shoot location, and Rs75,000 per day for still photography.