Top Bollywood producers to visit Liverpool

A host of India’s top producers and directors will be in Liverpool on Tuesday May 14, as part of a fact finding mission which could lead to top Bollywood movies being shot in the city.
The 15-strong delegation are visiting the city as part of a tour of the north west during which they will look at key locations and production facilities.
More than 800 films are produced annually in India and the trip is part of a campaign by the British High Commission to persuade them to spend more of their budget in the United Kingdom. The delegates are also looking at how they can distribute their films more widely.
They will attend a briefing at the Tate Gallery in the Albert Dock, during which they will hear city council Chief Executive David Henshaw outline why Liverpool is a great location for films.
The event is being jointly hosted by the city council and North West Vision, an organisation set up to promote filming and television production in the region. Delegates will be given a colourful traditional Indian welcome by members of Milap Fest – which organises Liverpool’s annual Indian festival.
Councillor Frank Doran, Executive Board member for Leisure and Culture, said: “Liverpool has already been dubbed the Hollywood of the north – maybe soon that could be Bollywood. We are developing a fantastic reputation as a film friendly city and I know the delegation will see the potential of the city as a possible location for a movie.”
The visiting party includes Yash Chopra, who directed the hit Indian film ‘Lamhe’, and Amit Khanna, the Chairman of Reliance Entertainment and President of the Film Producers Guild of India.
Jacqui Rafferty, acting head of the city council’s Film Office, said: “The aim of this visit is to show the Indian film industry what Liverpool can offer in terms of locations and production facilities.
“Bollywood is one of the key filming regions in the world and the fact they are coming to look at Liverpool shows how our profile as a film city is growing.”
So far this year a number of high profile productions have been shot in Liverpool including the Forsythe Saga for ITV1 and Hound of the Baskervilles for BBC1.
Hollywood blockbuster 'The 51st State' - which was filmed entirely in the city, has recently been released on video and is currently riding high in the rental chart after grossing millions of pounds at the box office.
(SP)