Uttarakhand aims to emerge as new Bollywood hub

Representatives from 33 Mumbai-based production houses met Maharaj, including Dharma Productions, Mahesh Kothare, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Balaji Telefilms, Bhansali production, Endemol Shine India, Jio Studio, Salman Khan Ventures, Mx Player and Rajshree Production.

Recently a Man vs Wild episode with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shot in the state, after which a renewed interest was generated in Corbett, said a UTDB official. The latest movies shot in the state include Lakshya, Kedarnath, Student of the Year and Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Besides the Corbett National Park, the state wants to promote Char Dham, Rishikesh, Ranikhet and other pilgrimage locations like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri as film locales. The state is also looking at developing new locations for the film fraternity, said the official.

Production houses have been invited to visit Uttarakhand, explore different locations and avail the facilities of the film policies government is offering and shoot their films in Uttarakhand. The first policy took shape in 2015 and since then the same has been reviewed and developed with time. There is also an effort to bring stories of people and villages in Uttarakhand on the big screen, for which UTDB wants production houses to do research and shoot biographies.

Secretary of Tourism & Information, Dilip Jawalkar, said, “Uttarakhand has immense potential for film shooting. We are always open for producers and directors to come and visit especially the unexplored destination of Uttarakhand. The state has also introduced single-window permission for production houses.”