Arpan has a law degree from Calcutta and is interested in the film, music and publishing world and has written a few articles related to media law. Based on an RTI application, Arpan made the following observations:
Since 2006, 108 foreign films have been shot in India: 22 in 2006, 27 in 2007, 26 in 2008, 22 in 2009 and 11 in 2010.
The fall in the number of movies being shot in India in 2010 is attributed to the economic downturn, and the future does not look good for India’s plans to attract foreign films to shoot here either, given the current situation in Europe.
A few observations with regard to the types of films made is also useful. A lot of the films deal with themes such as orientalism and exoticism. However, Arpan noticed a difference in the way in which India is represented in such films. While Hollywood films regularly show advanced Asian countries as modern busines destinations (e.g. Hong Kong in The Dark Knight or Tokyo in Inception), India is seen as the land of holy cows and untouchables.
Looking ahead, there are two films from the big Hollywood studios that are being shot in India – ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ and ‘Life of Pi’, so it’s not all bad news for India.
There is definitely a need to streamline the laws and regulations controlling shooting of foreign films in India and it appears that the government has signed some co-production treaties. Hopefully the legal barriers have been removed and we can look forward to some interesting shots depicting India in the future. We thank Arpan for bringing this bit of information to our notice.
Can we have a list of the 108 films, please?