Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; October 16, 2019)

Capturing ‘the flavour of India’ has been one of the main agendas of most foreign films and TV shows shot in India. However, till around a couple of years back, delays in getting visas for foreign crews, the red tape stretching the permissions process to three-six months sometimes, and hassles in the temporary import of shooting equipment, among other issues, meant very few foreign projects were actually shot here. The India producers of international projects say that whenever the script has an India connect, foreign filmmakers want to shoot in India. However, when shooting here seemed impossible, the makers would either scrap the India portion of the shoot or recreate it in another country.

But now, with an easier permissions process, thanks to the Film Facilitation Office (FFO), and a special visa category for foreign crews filming in India, the number of projects being shot in the country has gone up. From three-four projects in a year, the number has gone up to over 10 projects in 2019 alone till now, including Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which he shot in Mumbai last month.

Currently, five major foreign projects are being shot in different parts of the country. Line producers and India producers of foreign projects tell us what has changed in the permissions process and what more can be done to attract foreign filmmakers to India.


CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S TENET GOT SHOOTING PERMISSIONS IN A WEEK
A foreign filmmaker, on an average, has to get over 31 licences to shoot a film in India. However, in the last four years, the I&B ministry, through FFO, has worked to reduce the time taken to procure permits for foreign crews.

Pravesh Sahni, India producer of films like Slumdog Millionaire, Lion, and Hotel Mumbai, says, “The FFO has smoothened the process for international projects and it has helped more international filmmakers shoot in India. After getting permits to shoot in India, we have to apply to local agencies for shooting at that particular location. The facilitators and infrastructure scenario is improving in India. These days, the permits are being issued faster. In the last couple of years, they’ve brought tremendous change in the filming for international films in India.”

Last month when Christopher Nolan came to shoot his upcoming film Tenet in Mumbai, he got the permission within a week. Dileep Singh Rathore, the India producer of Tenet, says, “I recently completed a seven-day schedule of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet in India, and it was only possible because we got the permissions in time. As someone who has faced a lot of trouble in getting permissions in the past, now, it feels like a red carpet has been rolled out for foreign projects in India. I have four other international projects in the pipeline to shoot in India, but I can’t disclose their names.”

As foreign filmmakers often want to capture aerial scenes, a separate department has been introduced to cater to these requests. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) provides permission for aerial shootings in the country. Dileep Singh Rathore adds, “A few years back, to get permission to shoot a helicopter scene for Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (which had some scene shot in Jodhpur), I had applied five months in advance, but I never got permission. But for Tenet, we got the permission to use a helicopter very quickly.”


The crew shooting a scene of Garth Davis’ Lion , starring Dev Patel, in India

NO VISA ISSUES FOR FOREIGN CREWS NOW
In 2017, the I&B ministry consulted the MHA and the MEA, and introduced a special visa category for foreign filmmakers.

Alan McAlex, the India producer of two international projects, one being shot in UP and another film scheduled for shoot in Ahmedabad next month, says, “Quick visa clearances for the foreign crews is one of the reasons why more foreign filmmakers are coming to shoot in India. For shooting in India, foreign filmmakers have to get clearance from the I&B Ministry. The ministry officials coordinate with the Indian embassies abroad, and help in getting visa clearances faster.”

For foreign filmmakers, getting the permission to shoot in India used to take five-six months, which has now reduced to three-four weeks.

TEMPORARY IMPORT OF FILMING EQUIPMENT AT CUSTOMS USED TO BE A HUGE PAIN
For foreign filmmakers, the biggest hurdle to shooting in India is customs clearance because they have to import film shooting equipment temporarily. Dileep Singh Rathore says, “For Tenet, we had to bring IMAX cameras and other equipment as filmmaking process abroad is more advanced. When foreign filmmakers bring equipment to India they have to spend a lot of time in getting customs clearance. While this time the process was very smooth, the temporary import of filming equipment has been a big problem area for us.”

‘ASI, DGCA, RAILWAYS CAN FURTHER IMPROVE PERMISSION PROCESS’
When we asked India producers of foreign projects about the departments where the permissions process can be improved, the most common reply was the airports, the ASI and the railways. Pravesh, who has also worked on Homeland, and is currently working on two international shows, says, “We have been discussing the timelines of shoots with the ASI. The official time is from 6 am, but to capture the sunrise at 6 am, the crew needs to set up at 4 am. Similarly, for airport shoots, the permissions process takes weeks to months. Another problem that we face is that multiple permissions are needed from railways because it is divided into different zones — a centralised system will help filmmakers.”

To shoot at a railway station or on the railway tracks, permission is needed from the zone the station or the track falls in. For some areas, permission is needed from two zones which doubles the fee. During the shooting of Lion at Khandwa, the producers had to get permission from two zones. A security clearance from the Railway Board in Delhi is also needed.

Talking about incentives, Pravesh Sahni says, “Countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Sri Lanka offer incentives, but we don’t have as many incentives in India. I have been discussing it with the I&B officials that if a filmmaker is spending over Rs 2 million in India, he/she should be offered some incentive to shoot here.” The production houses say that incentives also help in attracting a number of independent foreign filmmakers who submit their work to film festivals, and it can position India better on the map of shooting locations.

IS INDIA A DESTINATION FOR FOREIGN FILMMAKERS?
Alan McAlex says, “We can definitely say that more foreign filmmakers are interested in filming in India, but India is still not a shooting destination. One of the reasons is that international filmmakers won’t get extras here. They can easily go to East Europe and replicate New York there, and they will get a crowd of 2000 extras, but if they want to do it in India, they’ll have to bring those extras along with them.”
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MAKING SHOOTING IN INDIA AN EASIER PROCESS FOR INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS

Myriad clearances would often scare, confuse, or simply tire out international filmmakers looking to work in India. To remove the red tape involved in obtaining filming permits in India, the Film Facilitation Office (FFO), operated by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), which is the single window clearance system for international film shoots in India, subsequently went online. In 2017, at the Cannes Film Festival, India specially focused on promoting film tourism and encouraging international studios to shoot in the country.
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PREVIOUS PROJECTS WHICH EARNED INDIA A BAD REPUTATION

In 2012, the Ministry of Railways did not give permission to shoot an action sequence on top of a moving train for the James Bond movie, Skyfall, because they felt that India would be shown in a poor light. The 2018 release, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the sixth in the series, which opens with a scene in Kashmir and ends with it too, didn’t get the required permissions to shoot in the valley. So director Christopher McQuarrie created Kashmir in New Zealand. He was quoted as saying, “It was a pretty crazy sequence. People were very nervous about us coming there and doing that. So while we were shooting in New Zealand, we still had this (feel)... We liked the flavour of India, so (somehow) we managed to put it in (the film).” Line producers tell us that for every film which doesn’t get permission to shoot in India, or its shooting gets disrupted, it stops five other filmmakers from shooting in the country.
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PERMISSIONS PROCESS SMOOTHER BUT MORE CAN BE DONE, SAY INDIA PRODUCERS OF FOREIGN FILMS

From three-four projects a year to over 10 international projects being shot in India in 2019 alone, an easier permissions process has boosted India’s image as a shooting location. While the Film Facilitation Office is giving shooting permissions faster, a special visa category has been introduced for foreign crews filming here and customs clearance of filmmaking equipment is also a smoother process. From five-six months, the time frame of getting permissions has now reduced to three-four weeks. However, line producers say that the permissions process in departments like the Indian Railways and the ASI, and in airports could be further improved, along with offering incentives to foreign filmmakers.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout meets all the expectations and is better than the previous installments in terms of storyline and thrill element. The previous film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, however was one step ahead as each action sequence was in sync with the ‘Mission: Impossible’ element of the film. In that regard, Mission: Impossible – Fallout falters a bit as the mission really gets ‘impossible’ only in the end. But the makers make up for it with the script and execution. Even if the missions are not that crazy as in part 5, still it keeps one on the edge of the seats. This is especially in case of the Paris sequence before the intermission. But it’s the 30 minute long climax where the film goes on a high and how! It raises tension levels considerably and it’s sure to be loved. Also, in case of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the endings were not that great and even the villains didn’t seem that menacing. On both these counts, Mission: Impossible – Fallout wins hands down. This probably makes this film the best of the series! Tom Cruise is splendid and viewers still can’t believe that this chap is more than 50 years old and that he’ll turn 60 in 4 years! Henry Cavill is quite decent and plays his part nicely. Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg as always are quite entertaining and reliable. Rebecca Ferguson gives a fine performance and her scenes with Tom are quite electrifying. Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett and Sean Harris leave a mark. Don’t miss this film for anything!

P.S.: Censors have ruined a part of the film by chopping shots and references >:(

My rating - **** ½ out of 5!

Colaba's struggling single-screen theatre, Regal Cinema sends out SOS to regular patrons in a bid to stay afloat in difficult times
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 27, 2018)

Yesterday, Mumbaikars woke up to the realisation that yet another SoBo institution - Colaba's Regal Cinema - is struggling to stay afloat. Early in the day, a message started making the rounds on Facebook: "Mission Impossible 6 at the Regal Cinema. Please patronise the Regal, one of the last single-screen cinemas left in Mumbai!" A matter-of-fact text that struck a chord with several cinephiles who grew up watching their favourite films in the South Bombay heritage building.

mid-day reached out to Kamal Sidhva Taraporevala, the third-generation owner who still resides in the Regal building. When quizzed why she sent out that message, she said, "The footfall is heartbreakingly low. It's a 1,100-seater cinema, and we sometimes struggle to fill 150. We have advance bookings, but the sales drops are unimaginable. I don't even want to get into the statistics, but you can imagine what it's like from the figure I gave you."

"In the 1990s, we used to run full houses. And now, we see 100-200 people on good days. It's a family business, and I sent that message out to friends who prefer to watch English movies. Distributors have stopped giving enough movies to single-screen cinemas; they prefer multiplexes. We have no control or choice over what movies we can show."

Bittersweet nostalgia
The empty seats at Regal are a stark contrast from the theatre's glory days back in the '70s and '80s, when films ran for 13 to 15 months at a stretch. "I remember that Gandhi had run for months and months, and the queue would snake right around the block. Before that, Enter The Dragon, had run for 13 months. I remember times when the challenge was to fight black market ticketing. For as long as I can remember, the cinema was always full, and look now..."

The cinema was started by her grandfather in 1933, and the building's history is part of the charm of watching movies there. But its heritage status has also made things difficult for the owner. "The business is not generating enough money for us to take on the extra expenditure of redoing it into something else, for instance a multiplex. That will be a major gamble. There is also the issue that the government won't allow us to convert it for any other business (say a restaurant). If it's a cinema, it has to be used as a cinema. This is why so many single screens are lying vacant," Kamal explained.

Picture abhi baaki hai
The challenges of running Regal are abundant, Kamal added. "Just switching the electricity on for 100 people is making it impossible to run. But even at this point, we are hopeful. We haven't considered selling out yet."

She added that a little empathy from the authorities would go a long way in protecting single-screen theatres. "There is a huge gap in protecting the interests of the single screens. Anything we need to do to keep it running has to be done privately, including generating the funds."

WILL MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT IMPACT DHADAK’S COLLECTIONS?

Last week’s release Dhadak, starring newcomers Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter, has managed to do a fine job at the box office. The film grew in the weekends and sustained nicely during the week days. The first week collections are expected to be in the Rs. 51-52 crore range which is quite good for a film starring newbies. The film has the potential to cross the Rs. 75 crore mark as of now.

But Dhadak faces a competition of sorts this week from a Hollywood film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout. It is a movie of the popular Mission: Impossible franchise starring the much loved Tom Cruise in the lead role. The series is known for its taut script but more than that, its eye-popping action sequences which have become better and better and more ‘impossible’ with each passing film! While the Mission: Impossible films do very well globally, in India, it has done good but not great business. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol [2011] collected Rs. 47 crore. But the next part, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation [2015] earned Rs. 48 crore. Hence, the growth was negligible. But with Mission: Impossible – Fallout getting rave reviews from the West, it is expected to do slightly better in India. The opening can be in the Rs. 7.50-8 crore range and if all goes well, it can go above Rs. 10 crore as well. The English speaking audiences would definitely accept the flick but it’s the audience watching dubbed versions that should also embrace it. Only then it can do big business. However, Mission: Impossible films have not done that well with those watching the dubbed versions, as the film is seen as too classy.

So will Dhadak get impacted by Mission: Impossible – Fallout? It all depends on the success of the latter’s dubbed versions. The Hindi version is usually for single screen and mass-dominated markets. In these areas, Dhadak is doing very well. So the success of Mission: Impossible – Fallout in these regions would mean Dhadak getting affected. If that doesn’t happen, then both these flicks can co-exist well.

As for Hindi releases, this week, the major one is Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. The first part of the series became a surprise success, which motivated the makers to come up with the sequel, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns. This film commercially was a bigger success but seemed similar to part 1 and hence, doesn’t have much of a recall value. Also, it’s not a huge brand as such and never became a hit on television. Still, there were hopes that Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 can work since it has an exciting addition to it’s star cast – Sanjay Dutt. Sadly, the trailer was lackluster. The promotions haven’t made any noise with Sanjay Dutt not promoting the film much. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster was high on sensuousness and it was a big reason why the film caught attention. Surprisingly, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns was high on thrills and didn’t have any sexual quotient. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 however marks the return of the sizzle in the franchise. Both Mahie Gill and Chitrangda Singh are expected to set the screen on fire. But again, the buzz is hardly there. The opening should be above the Rs. 1 crore mark and even if reports are good, it’ll have a tough time at the box office.

Lastly, Nawabzaade also hits screens tomorrow. Starring the ‘dancer actors’ Raghav Juyal, Punit Pathak and Dharmesh Yelande, it is produced by Remo Dsouza. The trailer and the plot looks dated, reminding one of films like Dhol, Nayee Padosan etc. The songs however have worked big time like High Rated Gabru and Tere Naal Nachna. Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Athiya Shetty fearture in these tracks which helped in getting more traction. But many have mistaken these songs for singles and awareness has not spread well that it’s a part of Nawabzaade since the film and songs seem poles apart. A similar episode happened when Kala Chashma was unveiled and it became a chartbuster. But when Baar Baar Dekho’s trailer came out, the song didn’t seem in sync with the film’s theme and the film got very little benefit of the super hit promotional track. Nawabzaade too will suffer a similar fate.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!