Starry-eyed Indians take to holidaying in Britain

AHMEDABAD, SEPT 14: Follow the bloody trail of Elizabeth, feel the dark terrors of the ruined Warkworth castle which served as the tortur...

AHMEDABAD, SEPT 14: Follow the bloody trail of Elizabeth, feel the dark terrors of the ruined Warkworth castle which served as the torture chamber in the film, and check out locals who recall how Shekhar Kapoor, the Indian director, smashed through a specially constructed window to recall the raw reality of the torture chamber.

In a novel tourism project aimed at Indian directors and families which are fast acquiring the means to holiday abroad, at least once in a lifetime8217;, the British Tourist Authority has worked out a new sales package that hopes to cash in on nouveau riche Indians and their craze for the silver screen and stars. This is part of an India-specific promote British tourism8217; project that has an annual budget of 120,000 pounds, informs Prem Subramaniam, Indian representative of the British Tourist Authority.

Indian films and films by Indian directors, that have been shot in the United Kingdom, are being used as the sales pitch for motivating Indians to holiday abroad and picture postcards of castles like Chillingham, Alnwick and Durham Cathedral, where Elizabeth was shot, are being made readily available. Enticing information is also being flashed in the faces of young Indian directors, desirous of shooting at fascinating foreign locales for their forthcoming ventures, through travel brochures, exhibitions and sites on the net.

What better advertisement can we have than Khan romancing Kajol on top of a bus in Oxford Street. We have been using testimonials from Indian film stars and this has made a big impact on tourism,8217; says Subramaniam. Indian tourism to Britain is increasing by 10 per cent every year and the increase has been registered at 15 per cent in terms of money spent. Movies definitely make an impact. Ask any Indian in London which place they would like to visit and 90 per cent chances are they will say Scotland. That is the place where six Indian films have been shot in the last one year,8217; he says.

Emphasis on the Pennines and the moors that inspired Wuthering Height and Jane Eyre and mentions of the British countryside in verses and sonnets by Burns and Shakespeare have discreetly been pushed to the back pages in travel brochures. These now flash pictures of Sachin Tendulkar playing the Diana memorial match and Karishma Kapoor sporting a Union Jack T-shirt with accompanying blurbs where they talk of friendly British, attractive British clothes and fashion8217; and meals in Chinatown, coffee at Swiss Centre. Good enough to die for.8217;

Reigning Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee also find pride of place in blown up clips from films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Naturally, shot in Edinburgh and Scotland. Places seeped in history and culture, the small print informs, further adding that there8217;s nothing like watching a movie to make you want to visit the beautiful places you see on the silver screen8217;.

There are specific sections devoted to Britian in the movies with large clips of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and smaller ones of The Full Monty and Four Weddings And A Funeral. The Liverpool Street train station which Tom Cruise races through in Mission Impossible, Nunsmere Manor where Yash Chopra shot Lamhe, Scotland where Karan Johar shot DDLJ yes, they actually use the popular Indian abbreviation are painstakingly mentioned as some of the places you might like to visit. The room in Crown Hotel, Amersham, where the romance between Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell takes off in Four Weddings8230;8216;, has seen 15 proposals of marriage, is a titbit that is shared with readers. Also, directors are given the Do8217;s and Don8217;t8217;s8217; of filming in Britain.