So what if Oliver Stones’ Alexander was shot in Thailand after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry insisted on seeing the script first. India lost out on Mother Teresa too, which was shot in Sri Lanka.Despite the false starts, there is good news though it is a just a trickle. Matt Damon did sprint across the beaches of Goa in Bourne Supremacy in March this year in the sequel to Bourne Identity courtesy Film Services India — a company that specialises in pitching for India and assisting Hollywood studios to shoot here. In the process, the movie generated revenues worth nearly $7 million. That figure can easily double up in the next five years, say film analysts.Albert Brooks will be here to shoot his comedy flick and so will Jackie Chan, both of whose scripts are currently being examined by the Ministry. There is talk of Michael Douglas descending to India sometime in winter with Racing The Moon.Shadows of Time, being readied for release in August and directed by award-winning director Slorian Gallenger, was shot in West Bengal. If the list seems impressive, then the Indian consultants promise more.Hollywood studios are coming, says Ajai Kapoor of Film Services India who, along with On the Road Productions, Kundalini Pictures and India Take 1, are attempting to put India on the film map.Their pitch: India can offer the best locations for any movie, comparable to the best in the world. ‘‘Where else can you get a busy railway station, snow-capped peaks and the desert in one sweep,’’ says Ajai Singh who is planning another eight movies this year.With some help from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which has liberalised its rules for foreign productions in India, eased the visa regime, made provisions for a single-window clearance, things definitely are looking up for India.Says Dilip Singh of Take 1, who is planning to shoot his Opium Royal in Rajasthan — one of the places the ‘‘film-councillors’’ are trying to hardsell, ‘‘I have been trying to get Hollywood to come here for the last 15 years and efforts are bearing fruit now. It takes between three and six months to get the scripts cleared from the Government and the option of creating India anywhere in the world is an easy one to exercise.’’Singh talks about the immense employment opportunities that can be generated if India opens its gates.Says Bhuvan Lall, consultant to companies who want to shoot in India, ‘‘everyone is interested in a well-told Indian story. There is a definite buzz about India and there is a film culture here.’’Of course, he points out that India is still way behind Eastern Europe and Canada, which take the bulk share of being the most-booked places on earth.‘‘But India can definitely catch up. We may not get top-of-the-line productions. But the second-level guys are here and that’s heartening,’’ he says pointing at an interesting statistics, ‘‘of 52 feature films produced in the recent months, 28 were to be shot in the US and 20 outside America.’’Of course, the Government can also do its bit by going in for co-production deals and undertake tax-write offs as incentives. For the Indian studios, there is still one last hurdle left. Western movies shot here are processed in Hollywood. Indian studios are vying for the last mile operations.
