Riding on the success of Khushbu Gujarat Ki tourism campaign starring Amitabh Bachchan, the Narendra Modi government is all set to woo Hollywood film makers to shoot their films in the state. As a first step in that direction it has decided to set up a stall at the Cannes Film Festival to be held in May.
The rationale behind inviting film makers to shoot in Gujarat is that it would give impetus to the tourism industry in the state and in turn give employment and income to the people.
The Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) has set up a special cell to handle and coordinate film shooting at various location in the state.
"We are promoting Gujarat as a destination for film shooting. It has been learned that the recent film of Farhan Akhtar which was shot in Spain resulted in increase in tourism there. Similar thing can happen here and getting film makers from across the globe to Gujarat was the next step to promote tourism, " tourism secretary Vipul Mitra said.
"A Special cell has been set up at the TCGL to promote and facilitate film shooting in the state. We are also going to set up a stall at the Cannes Film Festival to be held next month (May 16-27) in France, to attract international film makers from across the world including those from Hollywood to shoot in Gujarat," he said.
The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has been asked to represent Gujarat at the Cannes Film Festival and market the state as prime shooting location.
Riding on the success of the Khushbu Gujarat Ki tourism campaign starring Amitabh Bachchan, getting film makers from across the globe to Gujarat was the next step to promote tourism, Mitra said.
"I have made presentation before the Producers' and Directors' guild in Mumbai recently which have earned good response," he said.
According to Mitra number of Bollywood films are lined up for shooting in Gujarat which include Dabang 2, Vishal Bharadwaj's Matru Ki Bijli and Saheb Biwi Aur Gulam Returns for which shooting begins in Devgadh Baria (Dahod) from May 15.
